Information on Loughborough

Loughborough Names Gritel

Posted on 25/01/2008
P. Klein

snow plough

ITV Central Tonight weather presenters Lisa Foden and Anna Church are not only good at predicting ice and snow - they are also now helping to keep the roads clear in icy conditions now that two gritters have been named after them.

Back in November, during Road Safety Week, Leicestershire County Council took its team of gritters and snow ploughs out to local schools where schoolchildren took part in a competition to name them.

Nine gritters have been named in total - ‘Lisa’ and ‘Anna’ will join seven other gritters named by the schoolchildren including Gritel named by a student from Loughborough.

The winning names were Grumble Grit, Ice Buster, Gritter Bug, Gretel the Gritter, Big Yellow Monster, Eddie Snowbart and Geoff the Gritter. Geoff was named after the school caretaker at Melton’s St Mary’s C of E School, who keeps the playground safe by keeping it salted in icy weather.

The nine gritters are part of the County Council’s fleet of 23 gritters that are on call 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, during the winter months,  to spread salt on around 45% of the county’s roads (1,930km or 1,200miles).

The roads that are salted are A roads, some B and C class roads, major commuter and bus routes and, as far as possible, at least one route into all County villages.

Nicholas Rushton, Deputy Leader of the County Council with responsibility for Highways, said:” The children really enjoyed having the gritters at their schools as part of ‘Road Safety Week’. We have had some very imaginative entries.

This has been a fun way to highlight an important message – that driving in winter conditions can be dangerous. It can take drivers up to ten times longer to stop on an icy road. Despite the efforts of our team of gritters, drivers are warned never to assume that any road is completely ice-free during winter.”

To find out more about winter salting routes visit www.leics.gov.uk/winterdriving

In addition to ‘Anna’ and ‘Lisa’, the complete list of winners are:

Name of gritter            Pupil/class                                             School

Geoff                           KS1 (Class R, 1 &2)                St Mary’s C of E (Melton)*

Grumble Grit                     Joe Muddimer                                 Ibstock St Denys

Gritter Bug                            Ella How                                 Millfield, Braunstone

Big Yellow Monster        Charlotte Johnson                John Wycliffe (Lutterworth)

Gretel                                Alex Holland                                 Shelthorpe, Lougborough

Ice Buster                           Henry Tolley                                  St Joseph’s (MH)

Eddie Snowbart                  Kirk Mellors                                               Kegworth