Data reveals the extensive efforts of county council teams tackling the snow and ice in January
Teams tackling the snow and ice that hit Northumberland earlier this month travelled the equivalent of two-and-a-half times round the world.
The weather event heavily affected the county for the first two weeks in January – blanketing parts of Northumberland in snow, while many areas faced extremely low temperatures that resulted in icy roads and paths.
As well as its fleet of gritters, the county council’s 4x4 support vehicles helped with inspections, responding to incidents and accessing more remote or severely affected locations.
Statistics from January 1 to 14 have revealed that the gritting fleet operated around the clock, staffing up to 20 hours a day during the most challenging conditions, and 7,000 tonnes of rock salt were used to help keep roads safe.
In addition, the fleet covered 60,308 miles in total – the equivalent of travelling around the world 2.4 times – and 981 Fix My Street reports were actioned including grit bin refills, path clearing and road gritting.
Coun Mark Mather, cabinet member for roads and highways at Northumberland County Council, said: “These fabulous statistics give just a snapshot of some of the work our winter services teams did in just 14 days to keep our roads clear and residents safe.
“I want to personally thank each and every one involved for their efforts in some extremely challenging conditions. And it’s not just our staff, we’ve a raft of farmers and contractors who supported us throughout this period of poor weather to whom we’re extremely grateful.”
More information on these services is available at https://nland.cc/winter-services and for more information on reporting issues via the Fix My Street system, go to nland.cc/fix