Northamptonshire County Council: 'U-turn' on non-gritting policy

Nearly 500 mainly rural roads have not been gritted for ice this winter, but they would have been in the event of snow

A council has made a "u-turn" on its decision to stop gritting 255 miles (410km) of roads this winter after reports of several crashes.

Northamptonshire County Council removed 497 roads from its precautionary gritting network to save £475,000.

It provoked criticism from opposition councillors and thousands of people signed a petition against the move.

Conservative council leader Matt Golby said he had listened to the "clear message coming through".

The council said it would always grit the roads in the event of expected snow, but not for forecasts of ice.

Since the policy was changed in October, two vehicles collided on an icy road in Daventry after a request to grit it made by police to the council was reportedly refused, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

It also said a pregnant woman was involved in a crash in icy conditions in Northampton on a road which was no longer gritted.

Thousands of people signed a petition against the move to stop gritting some roads in icy conditions

Mr Golby said the gritting network would return to previous levels "as near as damn it".

"We don't always have the luxury to be able to do that," he said.

"This is down to the fact that there has been a hell of a lot of hard work dealing with the massive budgetary challenge."

Mr Golby said the policy had been discussed with the two government commissioners appointed to oversee the running of the cash-strapped council, which is looking to make £42.9m saving in 2019-20.

District councils had been asked to contribute to the gritting budget, he added.

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A petition started by Northampton businesswoman Jo Mumford was backed by 3,200 people, and she said she was "pleased the council have finally listened".

"A safe passage on our road network is a legal minimum expectation," she said.

Labour councillor Gareth Eales said it was a "victory for common sense".

He said: "However, I cannot possibly tolerate the spinning of this U-turn as a friendly or charitable gesture on the part of the Conservative council.  

"The cuts to winter gritting were made only in October, despite mass opposition."

The county council is due to be scrapped in 2020, along with seven other Northamptonshire borough and district councils, to make way for two new unitary authorities.