With most youngsters already looking forward to the summer holidays, snow and blizzards might not be at the forefront of children’s minds right now.

However, the company charged with keeping Medway’s roads ice-free wants youngsters to forget about hay fever and the beach for a moment, and help them to get ready, with plenty of time to spare, before temperatures go south again.

Medway Council’s highways contractor Volker Highways has teamed up with the KM Charity Team to run a competition with schools to provide fun names for eight new gritters, due to go into operation in the winter.

Children under the age of 12 have until noon on Friday July 6 to come up with names. The winners will be announced at the end of July, with the trucks being named and unveiled in September.

Volker Highways project manager, Sohail Hussain said: “We’re really hoping local children can come up with some fun and imaginative names for our new gritters.

“It’s important for us to reach out to the community and for the people we serve to have a sense of connection to the services we provide. What better way to encourage that than to get local schoolchildren to name our new gritters?

“We just hope kids can put thoughts of exams, summer holidays and the football world cup aside for long enough to come up with some inspirational ideas.”

Volker Highways, which already sponsors the KM Charity Team’s walk to school initiative Walk on Wednesday (Wow) has been working with Medway Council for 11 years.

KM Charity Team chief executive officer Simon Dolby said: ‘Volker Highways plays a vital role in keeping our roads open during wintry weather, with their gritter lorries forming the spearhead of their workforce.

“The Walk to School campaign is delighted to have been asked to work with our schools to provide names for this fleet of vehicles.”

Cllr Phil Filmer, Portfolio Holder for Front Line Services, said: “Keeping Medway moving during periods of severe weather is important to us and that is why we have funded eight new gritting vehicles. The new vehicles will be used to help clear snow from the roads and spread salt to help prevent ice from forming. Our contractor Volker Highways helps keep our roads open during the wintry weather and we have a team of staff who work around the clock assisting our most vulnerable residents.”

“Our road safety team works closely with local schools throughout the year and we’re keen to get school children involved and help us name each of the eight new winter vehicles. I look forward to seeing what names the children come up with for our new winter vehicles, which will be on the roads by this winter and helping to keep Medway’s main routes safe and open.”

Find out how to enter the competition at www.KmCharityTeam.co.uk/Competitions

From September, Wow will be renamed Super Wow, and schools that sign up for it before July 1 will get a 20% discount and be entered in a fantastic draw with a prize of 400 books for the school library. For more information, contact Sarah Clyne on 0844 2640291 or at SClyne@theKMGroup.co.uk or fill out the form at www.KmCharityTeam.co.uk/Wow