THE council will find it difficult to adequately grit the borough's roads because of government directives to cut usage by a quarter, a leading councillor has said.

At a cabinet meeting last night, environment cabinet member Bob Belam said staff had done a “great job” in gritting the roads during the cold snap.

But referring to a national agreement to ration supplies, he said: “We have been directed by the government to do it on the bare minimum.

“That is where we are going to find difficulties.”

A report has revealed the borough has 140 tonnes of grit available, enough to grit main roads for five days, with another 25 tonnes due to arrive yesterday.

Another 300 tonnes is expected to arrive on January 28, but, the report says,“due to continued national directives to ration grit distribution, the future use of this grit may be limited.”

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