STOCKS of rock salt have sold out and salt bins are running low as Oxfordshire residents try to deal with the coldest winter in 30 years.

Private sellers yesterday said they had run out of bags of rock salt, while Oxfordshire County Council admitted salt bins were not “currently well stocked”, although it has enough to keep the main roads gritted.

Oxfordshire is set to be hit by sub-zero overnight temperatures for the rest of the week, leaving roads and pavements susceptible to ice.

Weather patterns are more like those in the late 1970s, experts said, while Met Office figures released yesterday show that the country is experiencing the coldest winter for up to 30 years.

Staff at Johnsons Buildbase in Watlington Road, Cowley, have been inundated with calls from customers wanting to buy £4 bags of rock salt, but the firm has run out and is not expecting new supplies to arrive until Monday.

Buyer Alan Taft said: “We sold 700 25kg bags of rock salt in the run-up to Christmas but have not been able to get any more since.

“The weather has been unusually cold and individuals have been buying two or three bags. Hospitals or community centres might take a whole pallet. There is a big demand at the moment for rock salt and it’s very unusual for us to run out.”

Eamonn Chapman, branch manager of Travis Perkins in Chapel Street, East Oxford, said the building firm had 500 bags of rock salt before Christmas and sold the last 20 yesterday. He added: “We have got 500 bags on order and I hope we will get them before the end of January.”

Billy Preston, sales spokesman for Blanchford Building Supplies in Headington, said: “Bags of rock salt are selling fast but we’ve got a couple of hundred left.”

Temperatures fell to -8C at RAF Benson on Sunday night. On January 7 last year Benson saw temperatures fall to -11.8C – the coldest night since 1982, when temperatures fell to -18.7C.

A spokesman for the county council said it routinely salted 43 per cent of the road network, which he said was higher than the average salting levels for counties across the South East. He continued: “Our officers are continuing to keep a very close eye on the weather and will act as conditions require. However, gritting alone can never guarantee road safety and the risk of accidents can only be minimised by motorists ensuring they drive according to the conditions.”

When the Oxford Mail asked about levels in salt bins – which are filled by the council for parish councils and can be used by residents to grit their properties – a spokesman replied: “The council is aware that salt bins are not currently well stocked and we’re discussing the situation.”

Only three schools were hit by the weather yesterday. All Saints School in Didcot, St Blaise Primary, Milton and Willowcroft School in Didcot were closed while most of the county’s other schools undertook teacher training. Pupils are expected to return to school today.

affrench@oxfordmail.co.uk