HAMPSHIRE County Council’s salting lorries went out on a trial salt run on Saturday, to check the vehicles are in good working order in preparation for the winter ahead.

The county sent the lorries out between 7am and 1pm to ensure there were no unexpected obstructions on the routes, and that the equipment was fully operational and to identify any problems on the routes.

They spread a very small amount of salt during the test turn.

The council’s annual winter maintenance programme starts on October 1 every year in readiness for the first frosts and snow of the season .

Teams monitor sensors daily right through to April to assess when salting is needed.

A spokesman said: “A number of factors are considered when deciding when to salt the roads, including a specially provided local weather forecast, and the Icelert system.

“The Icelert system consists of a number of roadside sensors which detect road and air temperatures, wind speed and direction, rainfall, and ice formation.”

Hampshire’s winter maintenance teams treat roads on a priority basis – “priority one” routes carry the majority of the total traffice and include ‘A’ roads, major bus routes, and roads to major emergency services, such as hospitals.

During periods of prolonged severe weather, “priority two” and “community routes” are treated.

The former includes ‘B’ roads and single accesses to villages, and community routes cover roads to smaller schools, GPs surgeries.

Check which roads are on which priority routes at: www.hants.gov.uk/roads/ winter-maintenance