No winter snap yet for the Fylde

Council gritters have sprayed Blackpool’s roads with 45.91 tonnes of salt so far this year - almost 100 tonnes less than this time last year when the roads had already been covered in 150 tonnes of rock salt.

Bitter winds and harsh frosts blew across the Fylde coast in November and December 2012 as traffic and pedestrians struggled to cope with the conditions.

Council officers urged people to stock up on grit to de-ice their streets, but fast forward a year and it’s a completely different scenario.

A spokesman for Blackpool Council said: “So far this year conditions have been relatively mild and we have only had to go out overnight on four occasions.

“However, we are fully prepared and stocked to take all the necessary precautions if and when the temperature does drop.”

Lancashire County Council has also reported a drop in gritting, as vehicles were sent out 22 times in Wyre and Fylde between the start of October and mid-December last year, but have only made 10 trips this year.

West Coast Building Supplies, which has branches across the Fylde coast, supplies rock salt to the building trade and private customers for 70 years.

Graham Ronson, a sales adviser for the Fleetwood branch, said: “We have sold hardly any at all this year because of the weather.

“Last year and the year before it was a lot colder and we sold quite a lot to people who came here in November when there was a cold snap, but it has been fairly mild so far this winter.

“It’s a seasonal product and it’s not something we expect to sell a lot of. Someone went out to a local school to prepare them but that was about it and people have it in storage from last year.”

Temperatures in Blackpool are not expected to drop below four degrees for the rest of this week.

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