UNDER-fire council chiefs this week admitted that they have only THREE DAYS supply of road salt left.As the Arctic weather showed no signs of abating and with forecasters predicting even lower temperatures this weekend, South Lanarkshire Council revealed that grit stocks had dwindled to 1500 tonnes.Councillor Chris Thompson, chairman of the council’s enterprise committee, who oversee road maintenance, said they were currently using 500 tonnes of salt a day on South Lanarkshire’s roads.Last week, the council told the Advertiser they were using 1000 tonnes of road salt a day and had stocks of 2660 tonnes.Councillor Thompson admitted that they may have to reduce the amount of grit used on roads still further if the adverse weather conditions continue and officials fail to source fresh supplies.Desperate council bosses are currently trying to obtain road salt from the Mediterranean countries, including North Africa. Councillor Thompson added: “We are mixing rock salt and sand at present to try and conserve our salt stocks.“Readily-available salt supplies from the country's three salt mines are running out and time is needed to mine more supplies.“We have been sending daily fleets of lorries to England to bring up more salt, but now have to find other sources and are seeking to bring in a substantial shipment of salt from abroad.”Councillor Thompson said the lack of salt supplies had forced them to suspend the gritting of side streets and footpaths - fuelling anger from many members of the public.He added, however, that the move was necessary to conserve the limited remaining salt stocks required to keep the main roads open.The council have obtained supplies of sand and intend to start spreading it on side roads and pavements immediately.The Advertiser has been inundated by letters from readers complaining about the condition of roads.One Hamilton resident said last week: “I have lived in High Earnock for 29 years and these are the worst conditions I have ever seen.“High Earnock was only gritted after I made four consecutive phone calls.“The gritters arrived on December 23, but it was too late by then, and the amount of grit used was too little”. Read
