FOLLOW THAT GRITTER!

A new service which allows local residents to track the exact location of gritting lorries in Bedford Borough is now available on the Council website.

The technology uses GPS to track the vehicles location and relays this to the Council website. The location of the lorries as they make their way around the borough is then shown in real time. This is the latest addition to the Council's efforts to keep the borough informed and moving during the cold weather and joins the popular Gritter Twitter and Winter Maintenance webpage.

The new service, launched in conjunction with Highways Services contractor Amey, can be viewed at any time on the Council's Winter Maintenance webpage.

Just under half of the borough's roads are salted, including all A and B roads as well as other important local roads.

Mayor of Bedford Borough, Dave Hodgson, said: "Enabling residents to follow the exact location of the gritters through this new online service is an excellent use of the GPS technology, and the latest step in our drive to keep residents as informed and up-to-date as possible when periods of harsh weather arrive.

"We have worked extremely hard in recent years to make sure the borough is well prepared for a harsh winter. We have expanded the gritting network, pledged to plough additional roads in heavy snowfall, purchased a specially adapted quad bike to treat footpaths and sourced salt from around the world to bypass national shortages.

"In addition, we have also taken extra steps to make sure our residents can keep in touch with us. Our 24 hour Gritter Twitter service and regularly updated Winter Maintenance webpage are continuing to prove popular. We have now added to this with the option for residents to track our gritting lorries across the borough.

"The map will be a novelty for many people but the technology also allows anyone to see the gritting routes taken by the lorries. This can help residents to plan their journeys during very harsh weather as well as demonstrating all the Council's efforts to keep the borough moving."

The gritting lorries can be viewed from here: http://apps.bedford.gov.uk/winterupdates/