Residents invited to name Wolverhampton Council's new fleet of gritting lorries

Nine new wagons have arrived in time for the winter gritting season – and council bosses are calling on residents to help name them.

Name ideas should be short and catch with a Wolverhampton theme or a general winter theme.

Councillor Steve Evans, Wolverhampton Council's cabinet member for city environment, said: "We have got a brand-new fleet of gritters this year which will help us to keep people safe and the city moving which is our focus every winter.

“We want the public to come up with names for them. People see the gritters out and about regularly and this is a nice way to connect our residents to the team who are out there keeping everyone safe."

Wolverhampton Council's gritting team is on constant standby from now until the spring – and drivers are ready to go out day or night, and treat the roads with rock salt if temperatures are due to drop below freezing.

The council has almost 5,000 tonnes of salt in stock which will be replenished as needed depending on how severe the winter weather is.

Last year, the crews were called out 43 times, but during the freezing winter of 2017 to 2018 it was 98 times.

The authority routinely treats 240 miles every time the gritters go out. Each call out covers 51 per cent of all Wolverhampton’s roads and takes between three to four hours to complete using around 45 tonnes of salt.

Councillor Evans added: "I want to pass on my thanks to the entire team who make our gritting operation possible. The crews are on standby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - including over Christmas and New Year. That call out could come at any hour of the day or night and they must be ready to respond immediately.

“Two of the new lorries have four-wheel drive, so they will be used on the more hilly routes in places like Woodcross and Tettenhall. They also have a GPS system and auto-salting programme which makes the drivers’ jobs easier and means they can focus solely on the job of driving.”

To take part, people can send their name ideas to communications@wolverhampton.gov.uk.