A COUNCIL inquest into the state of Bolton's roads between Christmas and New Year has revealed that officials broke their own guidelines about the amount of grit to lay down.

Angry drivers claimed some of the town's busiest roads were "atrocious", with vehicles skidding on ice and snow covered surfaces which did not appear to have been gritted.

Cllr John Walsh told how police had even taken their motorcycle officers off the roads because the conditions were deemed to be too dangerous.

In a report to the council's winter maintenance scrutiny panel Dave Houghton, head of highway maintenance and management, said on Friday, December 28 a weather centre forecast stated that although sleet and snow in the area was expected, severe conditions were unlikely.

The duty officer gave instructions that the 10 primary routes in the borough be gritted at a rate of 10 grams of salt per metre as a precautionary measure.

The council's own code of practice recommends that 15 to 20 grams per metre are spread in such situations.

But Mr Houghton defended the decision and claimed it was unlikely to have made any difference to the eventual state of the roads on the Saturday and Sunday, with repeated gritting over that period proving largely ineffective.

"We have found that it (the lower level of gritting) has provided an adequate service in a pre-grit process for more than 10 years," he said.

Instead he put the problems down to a combination of factors including the fact that the temperature did not rise above freezing for several days, the weather alternated between hail and snow and there was not enough traffic around to help the 105 tons of grit which were applied to break up the ice.

"Everything seemed to work against us," said Mr Houghton.

Although Bolton has 10 gritters at its disposal officials there were generally only five on the roads during the weekend.

This was due to a limited number of drivers available. The borough only has a team of 24 standby drivers and to operate all vehicles, allowing for rest breaks, it would need 40 people.

Talks have recently begun with a local contractor about the possibility of them helping out during difficult conditions but it is unlikely that any arrangements would be put in place this winter.

Councillors are due to continue their examination of the issues surrounding winter gritting on Monday next week.