Dorset County Council's gritters have been given hilarious new names after a public competition.

The ten Dorset gritters have been adorned with their new names ahead of this winter's cold snap.

After the extreme weather of last winter, which brought the worst March snow in 30 years to the UK and saw 24-hour working to keep main roads open, Dorset Highways asked residents to name its gritting fleet, inspired by county locations.

The final names have now been unveiled as:

n Chillingstone

n Cold-Harbour

n Gold Chill

n Spreadisbury

n Ice Maiden Newton

n Osmington Chills

n Wooly Monkey

n Wimborne Monster

n Polar Bere Regis

n Cerne Giant’s Chilly

The winning names were chosen by the gritter drivers, and some have even been named after the route they serve.

Dorset County Council has uploaded a video of two of the vehicles being given their official new names:

The naming competition was launched in the autumn after the council thought the gritting and ploughing teams teams deserved some recognition after a hard slog last winter.

Martin Hill, of Dorset Highways, said: "During the snow events of February and March quite a number of people got in touch and asked whether we could name our gritters like other authorities have.

"We thought this was a great idea, so we challenged residents to come up with Dorset-themed names for our dedicated vehicles – and we're delighted with the final names."

Naming the Dorset gritters was inspired by campaigns run last year by Doncaster Council and Travel Scotland.

Winning names in Doncaster, which made national headlines, were Gritsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Anti-Slip Machiney and David Plowie.

Dorset Highways’ winter service started on November 1. More than 80 drivers will be on a shift pattern to ensure 22 drivers can jump into action for any 12-hour period.

Twenty-two main routes cover the 680-miles of road that make up the gritted network, accounting for 27 per cent of the county council’s roads.