DRIVERS are being warned to take extra care on the roads as forecasters predict icy and foggy conditions following a plunge in temperature.

Lows of -5C were predicted for Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire last night, with fog patches expected to last throughout this morning until late afternoon. Highs of just 1C were expected today.

Gritters were being sent out in force to treat key routes.

A spokesman for Stoke-on-Trent City Council said: "We have teams on standby to work during the early evening and overnight should we require them and we call them in on a daily basis when we receive the forecast at midnight.

"It always depends on what forecast we get as to what action we take, as the forecasts which look ahead very often change.

"On Monday we gritted from 6pm on all the routes we would normally treat, which include A and B roads and frequent-use bus routes."

Heavy snowfall in 2010 and early 2011 meant councils across the country stockpiled salt in preparation for another bad winter.

Cheshire East Council's Rod Menlove, cabinet member with responsibility for environmental services, said: "We have been prepared for severe weather conditions for some time. The stock-piling of grit began last summer. We also trained more drivers to use our gritting vehicles and snow ploughs.

"We do expect the freezing temperatures to stay with us for the coming week, at least.

"We currently have sufficient salt in reserve across Cheshire East and access to more, should we need it. That's more than enough to keep the roads salted for some time.

"Of course, we cannot guarantee that all routes will remain completely ice-free during freezing weather."

Some residents feel that roadside grit stocks in their neighbourhoods have not been maintained.

Chairman of the Wolstanton Residents' Association Chris Bowers, aged 53, from Minton Street, said: "We have had trouble getting the grit bins refilled and also some of them don't have lids so when it snows, all the salt is washed out and it becomes useless.

"I think the problem is that gritters don't go down the main routes in Wolstanton and there is a lot of elderly people who need help getting out in the cold weather."

Wolstanton resident Brian Birks, aged 72, added: "We are built on a hill and all the main routes require gritting.

"We have had residents out in the snow gritting the streets themselves otherwise it would have come to a standstill."

Staffordshire county councillor Mike Maryon, pictured below, cabinet member for highways, said: "We do make every effort to refill grit bins, but our priority lies with keeping the roads clear."

The grit bin in Minton Street is due to be refilled this week along with 1,500 other bins in the county.

Staffordshire County Council spread approximately 2,500 tonnes of salt on the highways over Saturday and Sunday.

According to the MET office, today should be staying dry with sunny intervals, with light rain expected tomorrow or Friday.

It said to expect a "wintry mix of weather for the coming week."

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