Winter gritting crews have stood down to take a well-earned break after a busy gritting season. 

Gritting crews carried out 85 separate countywide salting operations during the winter months, spreading some 18,000 tonnes over the 2,000 miles of Essex’s priority roads.

Paul Bird, Essex County Council’s Director for Commissioning, Transport and Infrastructure said: “Although not our busiest winter so far, we did have some snow in the west of the county and from January 15 right through to February 6, we did not have a single night off.

“Our crews were out every night due to some particularly cold temperatures; a fine example of dedication to service from our workforce.

"They can be proud in the knowledge that their achievements, often in the face of dire weather conditions, made Essex roads safer and minimised disruption to the network.”

The Highways team uses accurate weather forecasting, dedicated weather stations and roadside sensors to decide when and where to salt the highways and how much to spread.

The gritting crews begin again next winter on October 27.