British Truckers Abroad

British Salt Winsford Salt Mine Works 24/7 To Keep Roads Clear

Staff at the UK's biggest rock salt mine are working 24-hours-a-day to help beat "the worst continuous spell of severe weather in 20 years"

As parts of the country battled against the snow, staff at Cheshire's Winsford Salt Mine pledged to work round the clock to help keep roads open and motorists safe. Winsford salt mine is capable of extracting 30,000 tonnes of rock salt per week and has nearly 140 miles of underground roads.

Winsford Salt Union, which runs the mine, said With further severe weather forecast across the UK in the week ahead, Salt Union's Winsford mine in Cheshire is now working 24 hours-a-day seven days-a-week for as long as needed in order to play its part in keeping the nation's roads open and as safe as is possible. "Its main challenge through the current difficult period is to ensure that priority is given to customers whose stocks are at low levels and it is liaising closely with government agencies in this respect.

"Salt Union completed its pre-winter deliveries to customers in early November but the worst continuous spell of severe weather for 20 years has led to massive additional demand."
With many local authorities rationing salt and concentrating on only gritting main roads, the union said it was simply not possible to meet "unprecedented" demand.
It said: "We would obviously like to be able to fulfil every authority's needs in full but the reality of the situation at present is that that is simply not possible."
It added: "We are, therefore, working closely with customers and with government agencies to try to prioritise deliveries according to local needs.

"It isn't easy but we, like the rest of the UK's winter maintenance effort, are doing our very best."