With road salt stocks running low across the country following snow last week, reporter Keyan Milanian went to see whether Medway Council still has enough left to deal with another spell of Arctic weather

If we continue to get snow like we did last week we could be in trouble.

But, reassuringly, we’d need another week of the snow which fell on the Towns last week for it to cause a problem.

That’s the message after it was revealed Medway Council’s salt barn, as the storage depot is termed, is no longer receiving daily top-ups as supplies have run out.

But, on my visit to the council’s salt depot, I’m told not to worry.

Salt used in gritters has always seemed, much like snow, a bit of a mystery to me.

Those gritting teams who help clear our roads appear during the night like burly tooth fairies.

A spokesman for contractor Fitzgerald does not wish to be named.

I’m confused. Surely gritters and their teams do a job which helps people? Why wouldn’t you want to be named?

The spokesman says: “We have had abuse from people who think the grit will damage their cars.

“We have had snowballs thrown at them while they are trying to do their job.”

The salt, called Thawrox, is mined by the Salt Union company in Cheshire and, so far, about 1,000 tonnes has been used across Medway – the same amount used during the whole of last winter.

It is rock salt and can’t be eaten or used for cooking, so it’s no use on your chips.

“The snow needs to be more severe than it was before for our stock to run low but if we had another week of that we would not last very long,” says the spokesman.

“But we have not seen it as bad as this for a long time.”

The council has nine gritters, including one spare vehicle in case of breakdown and the depot covers the whole of Medway.

It is open, says the spokesman, 24/7 “if needs be” and, on

Friday, the teams were busy filling the 250 salt bins across Medway.

As well as clearing roads during winter, they also help with spills following road traffic collisions and with floods.

Every day the depot receives an email from the council with a traffic light system to reveal what the following day’s weather will be like, with red the most severe and green the all clear.

After that, if the teams receive a warning, the main roads, split into eight routes, are covered during the night to leave travellers with clear roads.

I leave the depot slightly more reassured having read horror stories of councils being forced to use table salt.

The spokesman says: “Unfortunately, we cannot control the weather, but we will do our best to keep the roads clear.”

For now, our roads are safe.