Gritters in the Surrey region have driven the distance equal to that between London and Bangkok in a mere four days during the snowy weather of late. Along with gritting lorries, the local council in Surrey has relied on ATV snow clearing equipment.
The council ensured that its winter operation was in high gear last week when snow began to fall in the region, turning the country white. From then on, the council had fleets of gritting lorries which covered around 10,184 miles. During this period of time, workers taking part in the snow operation worked 24/7 with a total of 1,774 hours.
The cabinet member for transport and the environment, John Furey, said that the ploughs and gritters had been working around the clock to ensure that roads in the region were as safe as they could possibly be during the bad weather.
Furey said that everything possible had been done to keep residents of Surrey moving and that the council would continue to do so until the weather gets better. The council had managed to stockpile around 16,000 tonnes of salt, which was double the amount that Surrey needed during an average winter.
In total, the council used 39 gritter lorries and had the support of local farmers, who helped out with ATV snow clearing equipment. An ATV salt spreader is now often among the arsenal of councils when the bad weather hits as they are able to reach parts of the region that other vehicles cannot.