Spreaddie Mercury is out and about in Louth!

With most of Lincolnshire receiving its first ever red weather warning over the past few days, LCC Highways have had a gritter on 24-hour standby, ready to go at a moment’s notice to spread sand on road surfaces that could start to melt in the extreme temperatures.

The county council’s dedicated gritter, affectionately nicknamed Spreaddie Mercury, is filled with 2.5 tonnes of sand and can treat around 20 miles of road between fill-ups.

Spreaddie has been out in action for reactive sand dusting on Lincolnshire's roads for the first time today (Wednesday) in Louth at the Halfpenny Lane and Horncastle Road junction to sand the road there.

The road at this point has seen some damage because of the recent high temperatures and volume of traffic at the junction, and this sanding will help the section of road later in the day as temperatures rise again.

Spreaddie will return to the depot and remain on-call throughout the day to go and continue dusting sand if needed on the county's roads network.