Oxfordshire highways officials last night said they were running low on salt to tackle snow and ice on roads – but were hopeful stocks would last through the current cold snap.

Yesterday, the Local Government Association warn-ed that several councils were running dangerously low of the substance to keep the roads safe – and some, like Wiltshire and Swindon, were only salting key routes.

But Oxfordshire County Council said it hoped it had enough salt stockpiled.

Despite overnight gritting and snowploughing, there were still a number of accidents early yesterday, because of the treacherous road conditions.

A lorry jack-knifed on the A420 at the Pusey turning, near Southmoor, in the early hours. The driver was taken to hospital in Swindon.

A lorry also jack-knifed on the A420 near the Botley interchange, on the outskirts of Oxford, causing further delays to traffic.

Drivers on the A361 at Burford also suffered delays due to an accident and another collison caused tailbacks on the M40 between Wheatley and Wendlebury.

The county’s gritters covered about 1,200 miles of roads yesterday.

Council spokesman Paul Wilson said: “It’s safe to say we’re running low, but hopefully have enough at least to cope with today, and another few days if we need to. We have ordered some more.”

Area engineer Brian Short added: “The night and the morning have been very hard work.

“All of our gritters have been fitted with snowploughs and they were out for the whole night. It has been a hard slog and this is an ongoing operation.

“We’re keen to do all we can to keep the major roads open and so far we’ve achieved that.

“With more snow possibly on the way, there’s more hard work still to come.

“We did have very good stocks of salt and that’s why the county has been in a more durable position over the past couple of days than many other parts of the country.”

Highways Agency spokes-man Stuart Thompson said: “Our staff have been working 24/7 to keep the major routes clear, including the A34 and M40.

“We have been working closely with our colleagues at the county council and we may be able to provide them with additional salt supplies if they need them.”

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