Taxpayers paid more than £1.1 million to clear the county's roads during The Beast from the East.

A council report has revealed the price residents paid during emergency conditions in February and March.

More than 5,000 tonnes of salt was used by Kent County Council.

Gritters went out more than twice the amount they would usually venture in February.

However, despite the efforts of contractors, during the bout of freezing rain on March 2 there were 50 crashes on the M20 within half an hour.

The report, written by KCC’s Highway Manager Carol Valentine, read: "This season's winter service has been challenging but the service has been delivered successfully in line with the Winter Service Policy.

"This has been due to the hard work and goodwill of all highways teams involved who stepped up to the demands of this challenge and demonstrated their ability to manage severe weather events.

"The two winter emergencies were managed well though it is acknowledged that there are lessons to be learned as outlined in this report and steps are being taken to review these and some of the initiatives being considered during the summer will contribute towards improvements that could be applied to a similar situation in the future."

The council officer also applauded the "invaluable" work of the 106 farmers who worked "round the clock" to clear 117 routes in the county.

When snow reaches over 5cm, the farmers are contracted to use ploughs maintained by the county council to keep rural areas "as clear as possible".