Burnham and Highbridge Town Council has this week taken delivery of a new road gritting machine for use in wintry weather.
The new yellow grit spreader sits on the back of an existing council truck to convert it into a gritting lorry.
Sedgemoor District Council, Bridgwater Town Council and Burnham and Highbridge Town Council have jointly spent £7,800 buying two of the machines to keep roads free of ice during future cold snaps.
District Council spokeswoman Claire Faun told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “During the extremely cold weather before Christmas, the councils did what they could to help Somerset County Council with snow clearance. However, at the time, the local councils did not own any specialist cold weather or gritting vehicles.”
“In preparation for any future cold snap, the three councils have jointly invested £7,800 in specialist gritting machines. The large yellow grit spreaders sit on the back of existing clean surroundings trucks converting them to medium sized gritting lorries.”
She added: “This should enable a quicker response to snow clearance in our town centres. One machine will be located full time at Burnham-On-Sea and the other in Bridgwater.”
Pictured (top) are Burnham town councillors Phoebe Harling and Neville Jones with Town Clerk Eileen Shaw (prior to her accident) this week
