The new vehicles, bought to replace the old ones which had reached the end of their life, will spread the 2,000 tonnes of salt the local authority has stockpiled to deal with freezing conditions.

The council said it would take 25 tonnes of salt to treat its 210 miles of priority roads during freezing temperatures, and more than double that when it snows.

The council’s cabinet member for the environment and transport, Chris Watts, said: ‘We have invested in our gritting fleet and have stocked up on as much salt as we feel we will need, but we always have contingency plans if the weather forecasts turn out worse than we are expecting.

‘Our crews will always do their best to keep our residents safe and roads as accessible and safe as possible.’

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