'Lives at risk' on roads in Anderby

Coun Graham Fisher (second right) receiving the gritter donated by Murphy and Sons Ltd. Now he says he doesn't have enough grit to keep doing the job. | jpimedia

A stalwart member of Anderby Parish Council, who has gritted the roads for residents for more than two years, warns lives are at risk because he only has enough grit to last a couple of days.

Coun Graham Fisher, vice-chairman of the parish council, says normally all 10 bins in the village are filled by Lincolnshire County Council during the summer.

"For some reason this hasn't been done," said Coun Fisher, who is a member of Anderby Volunteer Emergency Response Team (AVERT).

"We've had four cold spells already this winter and now there are only one and a half bins of grit left.

"I've notified LCC but unless we get a delivery soon lives are at risk."

Coun Fisher gritted the village, shoveling it by hand, until last January when Murphy and Sons Ltd presented him with a new gritter which he can tow with his car.

“I’ve been doing it to make sure the road is safe for residents when it freezes, and  because the school bus uses it," he explained.

"I grit up to Chapel Observatory - and their bins are full - but I can't use that for Anderby"

Darrell Redford, network resilience manager at Lincolnshire County Council, said: "All 10 grit bins were filled at the end of January, and, given the mild temperatures we've had since then, we're extremely surprised that the salt stocks have fallen so low.

"Unless we have a bad winter, we don't usually need to refill the grit bins over the summer.

"However, we do ask parish councils to let us know if their salt supply starts to run low.

"We did receive a recent request from Anderby and we are in the process of restocking them."

'Lives at risk' on roads in Anderby - claim