TWO schools have closed after heavy snow overnight, with council gritters out in force.

Leverhulme Community Primary in Breightmet Drive and The Olive Tree Primary in St Helens Road have both opted to shut for the day.

Red Lane school also closed early, at 1.30pm, due to the "continuing bad weather". Parents were told about the closure by text message.

Since 2.30pm on Wednesday, council teams have worked continuously to keep Bolton's main roads safe and clear of ice and snow.

The Met Office have issued an amber weather alert for snow in the North West, and sleet is continuing to fall this morning.

The council’s fleet of gritting vehicles went out four times - at 2.30pm, 10pm, 2am and 5am - spreading almost 200 tonnes of grit.

Gritters are out now gritting all the main routes and will be gritting throughout the day.

A full route grit covers 317 miles of roads in Bolton - just over half of the total road network – which means that the gritters covered 2,040km/1,268 miles since 2.30pm on Wednesday.

All the main roads and bus routes are covered on a full route grit and it takes several hours to complete.

All the council's waste and recycling vehicles will be out and attempting to collect from as many properties as possible which are due to receive a collection.

If a collection is missed please contact 01204 336632 or email wasteandrecycling@bolton.gov.uk by 5pm the next working day after collection.

A council spokesman said: “While we don’t grit every road in Bolton, our gritting crews have been working round the clock since 2.30pm on Wednesday to keep the main roads clear.

“We have tried our best to keep traffic moving in difficult circumstances. Grit also needs vehicles driving over it for to be effective.

“We know that some motorists experienced difficulty last night but there was a massive thunderstorm at 9pm which blanketed the roads. However, around an hour after that traffic was moving again.

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

“We would urge all road users to take extra care and allow more time for journeys in the cold weather.”

Footpaths in town centres are gritted when ice or snow is forecast but footpaths in residential areas are not gritted.

Residents can purchase grit, if required, from Heaton Fold garden centre, off Chorley New Road.