Council chiefs in Telford have been advised to buy an extra 1,000 tonnes of grit before the winter snap – which last year saw it overspend by more than £250,000.

In a report to bosses at Telford & Wrekin Council, its environmental services department has advised increasing the council’s stock of grit from 1,700 to 2,700 tonnes before the winter weather sets in.

The report, which cabinet members will consider on Tuesday, outlines how the council could save more than £22,000 if it stocks up now, rather than forking out for emergency supplies.

It said: “Expenditure on winter maintenance in 2009/10 was £676,500. This was an overspend of £268,900.

“This report recommends increasing salt stocks by 1,000 tonnes. This will enable the authority to maximise the amount of salt which can be purchased at summer prices, saving £4.27 per tonne against the average winter prices.

“In addition, the cost in 2009/10 of purchasing emergency salt stocks from alternative supplies was £18.30 per tonne more than the winter rate paid to our normal supplies.”

Savings

This, the report added, equates to a saving of £4,270 if bought in the summer and £18,300 saved from not buying emergency supplies.

Aside from the savings, the report added £10,000 would need to be spent every year on storing the extra haul at a site in Redhill in Telford.

This comes after the council was forced to slash the number of roads gritted in the borough as supplies of road salt ran out during a heavy cold snap in February last year.

It used almost double the amount of salt it would normally use over the winter and the Government was forced to intervene to decide how much salt each local authority would receive due to the nationwide shortage.

Last year the council announced plans to introduce a further 300 tonnes to keep the A and B roads open, but now councillors are looking at ordering more than three times that amount.

By Jason Lavan