WILTSHIRE Council’s gritters have received the "all systems go" clearance for the upcoming winter weather, following a successful fleet inspection.

The team of 24 gritters has already been out 10 times in recent weeks and are ready to keep the county’s roads running smoothly over the net few months.

Since the end of last winter, the council has been servicing its 24 gritting vehicles, amending and testing gritting routes, and developing closer working arrangements with parishes and other agencies.

Atiqul Hoque, portfolio holder for highways has been busy inspecting the winter gritting fleet and also paid a visit to the weather control room, to ensure the systems are all working correctly.

He said: "We have a very dedicated team in highways who do an amazing job in difficult conditions, to ensure we are fully prepared for this coming winter.

"We can never predict how severe a winter will be, but the wealth of experience we have means we will be in the best position possible should bad weather hit the county.”

On average it can take up to 140 tonnes of salt to grit Wiltshire's A and B class roads and 230 tonnes to salt an extended network during prolonged cold weather.

People can have updates on both the weather and road conditions on Twitter by following @WiltshireWinter and @WiltshireRoads