Leicestershire County Council have reported their gritting teams have been busy keeping local roads safe as snow and ice cover the county. 

A typical nightly run for the gritters sees about 260 tonnes of salt spread over 1,300 miles of road across the county, sometimes hitting priority areas twice. 

On Sunday night and into the early hours of Monday morning, road surface temperatures dropped to nearly –8 degrees Celsius in some places. 

Leicestershire County Council cabinet member for highways, Cllr Adam Tilbury said: 'Our gritter drivers have been working incredibly hard over this cold snap, facing some tough conditions, to keep the road network up and running. 

'Although rock salt can help reduce ice forming on the road surface and improve grip, we still urge motorists to take extra care on the roads. It's simply not possible for us to grit every route, but we aim to treat key ones. 

'Forecasts are warning of an ongoing cold snap over the next few days. Please prepare well for changing challenging travel conditions.' 

A-routes and busier B-routes, roads linking towns and larger villages, as well as roads outside bus, train, fire and ambulance stations and hospitals are treated. 

LCC's priority roads are marked in red, with those gritted by the highway agencies in green and local authorities in blue (Photo: Leciestershire County Council)

In more rural areas, quieter roads and lower priority routes, local snow wardens and local authorities also help to keep roads and pavements safe, using the on-street grit bins the council keeps topped up. 

To report problems or defects on roads and pavements, or empty and damaged grit bins, you can report a road problem on the County Council's website.