CALLS have been made to include two of Lyme’s main hills on the county council’s regular gritting route this winter.

Former town councillor Stan Williams said the bottom half of Hill Road and the whole of Woodmead Road are important routes for vehicles and pedestrians, especially schoolchildren.

He said at a town council meeting last week: “Last year both of these areas suffered many accidents both to vehicles and people.

“I believe both of these roads should be on the county list for regular gritting.”

Mr Williams was also worried about the town council’s reserves of salt and grit, which he said amounts to about four bin loads.

“How are our work force going to grit pavements and footpaths with only this?”

Town clerk Mike Lewis said: “We don’t have the equipment suitable to deal with the roads ourselves so at the moment we don’t see much future on this.”

Mr Lewis added that the town council has its own winter maintenance plan, which allows for all the town’s grit bins to be filled by the county council.

He said the town council has ‘large stocks’ of grit and more on order and the authority is buying a push along grit spreader to help clear more areas.

Martin Hill, Dorset Highways routine maintenance manager, said: “Our precautionary salting network is agreed prior to winter based on a strict set of criteria, including links to hospitals and emergency service stations and primary bus routes.

“Any requests for roads to be added to the salting network should demonstrate how they meet the criteria.

“With pressure on our resources, we focus on treating the 25 per cent of roads that carry 80 per cent of traffic, around 680 miles in total.”

For more information see www.dorsetforyou.com/wintergritting