Names for the new gritters

After a long and hardworking career Buckinghamshire’s gritters Salty, Daisy and Snowdrop have retired. In their place we welcome Blizzard Wizard, Snowphie and Brrrrrrian!

During December Transport for Buckinghamshire (TfB) held a competition to name their three new arrivals, and whittled over 200 entries down to the winning three. It was a tough decision, with entries such as ‘Melt’n John’ and ‘Meltallica’ as well, of course, as Salty McSaltface…

Blizzard Wizard was named by Arran and Calum Kelly, from Chesham, Brrrrrrian’s name was chosen by Beth Arnaud, from Waddesdon, and Snowphie has been named by Sophie Ingham, from Long Crendon, who chose her own nickname, given to her as it snowed on the day of her birth. Her ‘glitter’, as she refers to it, along with the other two new trucks, will join the existing fleet, all of which were named during 2009 by local schools.

Mark Shaw, Buckinghamshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport said: “The guys who carry out our winter road salting work hard through a tough season, and having a little light relief in the form of fun gritter names just brings a bit of humour to the job. We love running these competitions and I’m delighted with the new names. Don’t forget to check them out online!”

The new salting trucks will be out on their routes over the rest of the winter season, and can now be tracked in real time on TfB’s online gritting map. www.buckscc.gov.uk/winter.

TfB make daily decisions during the winter about whether or not to treat the roads based on forecasts from stations across the county. They make this decision based on a number of factors, but will look at whether or not the road temperature will drop below zero.

To keep informed of these decisions, follow TfB on Twitter @tfbalerts.