COUNCIL bosses have insisted they are doing everything to can to keep the roads safe during the snowy weather.

Bolton has been covered with snow since the early hours of Saturday morning, and Bolton Council’s gritting team says it has been working around the clock to deal with the snow and ice.

Since 6pm on Friday, gritting trucks have been out nine time to complete full grit routes, spreading almost 500 tonnes of grit.

With each full grit route covering 510k of road around Bolton — just over half of the total road network — gritters have travelled 4,590km in two and a half days.

But readers have contacted The Bolton News to ask whether enough has been done to clear the ice and snow.

Bromley Cross resident Nick Webber said Blackburn Road, north of Kermoor Avenue and Darwen Road, was “completely covered in snow" and was "treacherous” on Saturday morning.

The 51-year-old college lecturer said: “I have lived here for five years and every time it seems to snow it doesn’t seem like it’s been gritted at all.

“It was really deep anywhere past Sharples, on the road to Darwen or Harwood. I was down on Blackburn Road at 6am and it was so slippy.

“It would be worth someone from the council driving around and making sure the routes are clear.”

A council spokesman confirmed that Blackburn Road had been gritted twice before Saturday at 6.30am, and nine times between Friday evening and Sunday.

He added: "In order for grit to be effective it requires traffic to move over it. This may have been the issue on this particular part of Blackburn Road at the time when this driver was out.

"We understand that some drivers had difficulty and we appreciate their patience."

He added: “Our gritting crews have been working flat out since Friday evening to keep the main roads clear.

“However, we appreciate that some residents had difficulty but we have tried our best to keep traffic moving in difficult circumstances. Grit also needs vehicles driving over it for to be effective.

“The main road are clear and open to traffic but local roads, which are not on gritting routes, should be used with extreme care. Unfortunately we just do not have the resources to grit all the side roads.

"We would ask motorists to be prepared and to check their vehicle to make sure it is ready and safe for winter driving."

Bolton Council’s website provides daily winter gritting updates and residents can find out if they are on a gritting route by visitingwww.bolton.gov.uk/residents.

There are also 533 grit bins around the borough which will be refilled in the coming days.

Grit is also available to purchase from the Heaton Fold garden centre off Chorley New Road.