BOURNEMOUTH Council says its gritting operation has been in constant operation since 9.45pm on Wednesday.

The authority’s fleet of four gritting lorries has been laying down quantities of the council’s 1,200 tonne supply of Safecote salt on a 232-mile network of roads across the borough.

Council spokesperson, Rachael Mills, said the gritting operation was ongoing.

“We have salted all the primary roads, including the main commuter routes, A-roads, routes to hospitals, and roads leading to the town centre.

“All the main routes – including Wimborne Road and Ringwood Road – have been gritted.

“We’ve had a constant operation since 9.45pm last night. We are still on full gritting operation. It will be ongoing for the foreseeable future. Obviously, overnight will be critical,” she said.

A new shift of drivers started work in the early hours of this morning to continue the operation, and “all available manpower” has now been diverted to “hand salting” – treating pedestrian areas.

Several on-line readers had posted concerns for roads in Bearwood, Kinson, and Winton, and questioned whether the roads had been treated.

Ms Mills said falling snow and constant road use meant conditions could change shortly after roads had been treated. “The whole run takes about three hours. If snow is falling, it can be very quickly churned up. The operation is on-going and the entire network is treated effectively every three hours,” she said.