Telford & Wrekin Council this week began diluting the salt spread by its gritting lorries and stopped filling yellow roadside bins with salt in response to a Government call for authorities across the UK to preserve national supplies.
The council said it was mixing grit with the salt it spreads in an effort to hit the target of a 25 per cent cut in roadsalt and so help to eke out supplies.
On Wednesday, it was also announced that yellow roadside bins will now be filled with grit, which will not melt the snow and ice but will help improve traction for vehicles.
Councillor Adrian Lawrence, cabinet member for the environment, said: “We have no choice but to comply with the Government’s request, because of the national salt shortage.”
The council is to continue to grit its road network including A and B roads; regular bus routes; feeder roads to schools, main access routes to principal industrial estates and routes to some large villages.
The council has been benefitting through the cold snap from its £15,000 investment in a new storage barn for road salt which increased its capacity by more than a quarter.
Without this increase, the council would have been forced to reduce gritting of roads in recent days.