Published: Tuesday, 9th March, 2010 2:00pm

Council set to bin £30,000 of salt

TRUE GRIT: Council plans to bin salt.

COUNCIL bosses will have to ditch over a thousand tonnes of salt which could have treated icy roads - because it is ruined.

The Tele can reveal roads chiefs have asked for permission to 'write off' a massive 1,171 tonnes of salt as it is now 'unusable' - having been left out in open air for 14 years.

A report to councillors says the salt - which would be worth almost £30,000 at current prices - 'predates 1996' and asks for permission to get rid of it.

In the report, Alan Barnes, the council's head of environmental and commercial services, said: "Around 1,171 tonnes of the existing salt stock, which has been stored in the open, predates 1996 and has deteriorated to such a degree it is unusable. It is proposed to seek committee approval to write this stock off and dispose of it."

The wasted salt would have been enough to cover over a month of 'normal usage', or it could have filled the district's 230 grit bins 15 times.

The salt scrappage emerged in a review of Inverclyde's winter maintenance procedures, which found the council 'needs to improve its resilience to severe and prolonged adverse weather'.

Officials have drawn up a blueprint which includes plans for a new 3,500 tonne capacity salt barn, to avoid having to throw more vital stocks away.

There will be moves to bring in more mechanical footway gritting machines to clear pavements of snow and ice.

The report also commends the ground staff who were at the forefront of tackling the impact of the icy snap, one of the worst to hit the area in decades.

A council spokesman said: "Inverclyde Council inherited approximately 1,000 tonnes of salt from Strathclyde Regional Council in 1996.

"Most years the council buys in more salt than it uses in case of prolonged periods of cold weather.

"After a number of relatively mild winters, this has resulted in 1,171 tonnes of grit becoming unusable as it has lost the required 'salt' content. It should be noted that during last winter, the worst in the UK on record, Inverclyde Council did not run out of salt, nor did it have to ask for assistance from other councils.

"It is also being proposed to procure a salt barn capable of storing a minimum of 3,500 tonnes in dry conditions."