Wiltshire Council opens new £3.5m Warminster salt depot in time for Winter

Wiltshire Council has opened a new strategic salting depot in Warminster to ensure the council is ready to tackle whatever the winter weather brings.

The new £3.5m depot hosts five gritters from the council's 24-strong fleet and stores 4,000 tonnes of salt, which will be more than enough to treat all the class A and B roads in the west of the county when roadside temperatures plummet this winter.

It takes around 150 tonnes of salt to treat all of Wiltshire's A and B roads for each run, and around 30 tonnes for each run from the Warminster depot.

There are six dedicated salt depots around the county, with each ready to deploy their own fleet of gritters when roadside temperatures drop below zero. The gritters head out after the evening peak of traffic or before the morning rush hour, as these are the most likely times that frost and ice affect road surfaces.

Cllr Dr Mark McClelland, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: The new Warminster depot represents a significant £3.5m investment into keeping Wiltshire highways safe during this winter and for many winters to come.

This investment is part of our depot strategy, which looks to modernise and future-proof the service. This ensures we have sufficient resources strategically placed around the county to keep Wiltshire moving throughout the winter.

In our Business Plan, we set out our commitment to improving road safety and strengthening Wiltshire economy, and when we're met with snow and ice through the winter, our teams work incredibly hard on the county's roads so that people can continue to get around in their daily lives - and we thank them for it.

To find out more about gritting and snow clearance in Wiltshire, people should go to: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/highways-gritting-snow-clearance