Sefton Council Completes Winter Preparations with 3,500 Tonnes of Grit Salt

As the days get shorter and colder, Sefton Council has completed its preparations for winter.

Each year, at the start of the season, the Council has 3,500 tonnes of grit salt stocked at its award winning ‘Winter Hub’ in Netherton. That’s enough for up to 100 grit runs, depending upon the weather conditions.

The ten-strong fleet of 18-tonne gritters have been serviced and are ready to treat 470km of the Borough’s busiest roads and footways. This is in line with national guidelines and includes main arterial routes, bus routes and roads into hospitals. It is also about the distance from Bootle to Inverness.

Last year our gritting fleet went out 57 times and spread 2750 tonnes of salt over 26,790km of road. That is equivalent of going to Australia and back.

Between November 2025 and March 2026, weather conditions are monitored 24 hours a day by Sefton Council’s duty officers who will make gritting decisions based on forecast and actual temperatures and weather conditions. Council staff are on call to act if required, including over the festive period, to ensure Sefton’s roads are as safe as possible.

During very wintery and cold conditions, the grit team can be out on multiple occasions in one night, spreading up to 140 tonnes of salt over nearly 600 miles of local roads. With ten snow plough attachments, the Council is as prepared as it can be for heavy snow.

Footway gritting is also carried out in key town centres.

Spreading salt on the carriageway helps prevent the formation of ice. Traffic helps to break down the salt and disperse it over a wider surface area. This means busier roads tend to be clearer more quickly.

People can find out more about Sefton Council’s gritting operations, including maps of the routes covered atwww.sefton.gov.uk/gritting.

Salting cannot prevent snow from settling on the road surface and rain can wash it off. During extended periods of sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfall, the effectiveness of gritting can be diminished. Additionally, grit salt works when driven over, with tyres spreading the salt and melting the ice. The more traffic, the faster the grit works.

Cllr Daren Veidman, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for with responsibility for highways said:

“We spend all year making sure we are ready for gritting, and a lot goes on behind the scenes to keep Sefton moving in cold weather!

“Throughout October we’ve received constant deliveries to restock our Winter Hub, with each truck bringing about 30 tonnes at a time.

“Gritting takes place when the weather is at its coldest, meaning our vehicles are quite often out late in the evening or in the early hours of the morning.

“Our staff are now on standby, ready for the cold weather to get out there and make our streets safe overnight, all while most of us are tucked up in bed.”