THE county council has reiterated it “has a good track record on managing salt stocks” after sending out the gritting lorries for the first time this winter.

Oxfordshire roads were treated on Sunday and Monday and the council said it has more salt in stock than at this time last year.

Spokesman Paul Smith said: “Oxfordshire County Council was one of the few councils not to run out of salt stocks in the harsh winter of 2009/10 and there were no issues with salt stocks at any stage in the 2010/11 winter.

“The council therefore has a good track record of managing salt stocks.”

He added: “Despite not having had any issues with salt stock levels in 2010/11 the council has more salt in stock than it did at the start of the 2010/11 winter.”

The council said its arrangements for gritting remain unchanged from last year and that its gritters cover 43 per cent of the county’s roads.

In all, Oxfordshire County Council has the ability to use 30 gritters at once, covering a total of about 1,200 miles of road. Mr Smith added: “The county council has not made any cuts to gritting routes as a result of the cuts having to be made across the public sector. The county council has no current plans to make any such cuts.”

Lows of 1C are forecast for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at the weekend.