'Spready Mercury' to the rescue as icy pavements a peril outside Shropshire schools
A Shropshire school has become the first in the county to take delivery of a salt spreader to tackle the problem of icy pavements near their premises - and they've named it 'Spready Mercury'.
Other schools are being invited to work with Shropshire Council to help tackle icy pavements.
The first to take up the offer was Castlefields Primary School in Bridgnorth, which has been provided with bags of salt and a pedestrian salt spreader, which can be used to treat paths during spells of wintry weather.
The school has been making use of their new spreader during the current cold spell, named Spready Mercury – following a pupils’ competition to name it.
The spreader is used by the school caretaker to treat icy paths and pavements leading up to Castlefields School.
Kirstie Hurst-Knight, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for children and education, said: “Working with schools is a great way to ensure that the approaches to each school is treated during spells of icy weather, and to help children stay safe on their way to and from school.
“We approached Castlefields directly to see if they would like to work together and got a great response. If any other schools would like to work with us we invite them to let us know.”
Rebecca Lee, headteacher of Castlefields Primary, said: “We are so grateful to have been given the opportunity to work with Shropshire Council in this way. We will be able to monitor the situation locally and use our salt spreader when necessary.
“We ran a competition in school to name our new salt spreader and would like to congratulate Hugo for his choice of name, Spready Mercury.”
Richard Marshall, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for highways, said: “With thousands of miles of roads and pavements in the county, it’s just not possible for us to treat all roads and pavements in the county – though we will treat pavements near schools during prolonged spells of sub-zero temperatures.
“Providing schools with salt and a spreader means that they can treat pavements at all other times, when temperatures drop and pavements may be icy.”
