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Gritters named Kieran McSpreader and Spread Sheeran

Suffolk County Council A picture of a yellow gritter vehicle with the name Kieran McSpreader written on its front. A young girl is pictured standing in front of the vehicle holding an Ipswich Town football shirt.Suffolk County Council
Kieran McSpreader - named after Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna - is now part of the gritter fleet

Kieran McSpreader, Spread Sheeran and Grittersaurus are among the names chosen by children for a county's new fleet of gritters.

With winter looming, Suffolk County Council has got 38 new gritters to replace its existing fleet.

The results of a children's competition to name them have now been revealed, and the county's celebrities - including Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna and pop superstar Ed Sheeran - have been honoured.

Other gritters have been called David Attenbrrrrrr, Spready Mercury and Spread Lasso.

Suffolk County Council A picture of Suffolk Highways crews standing in front of the Kieran McSpreader gritter with a group of children and their parents. They are standing in a line and smiling at the camera.Suffolk County Council
The gritters were named by children following a competition at the Suffolk Show in May

'Raise a smile'

"I am delighted that Suffolk Highways has welcomed 38 state-of-the-art gritters to its fleet, with the names chosen by our county’s young people likely to raise a smile when they are spotted out and about this winter," said Paul West, a cabinet member for highways.

"Although last winter season was milder than previous years, Suffolk Highways still gritted over 3,200 miles of road, roughly the distance from London to Dubai, in response to road temperatures being forecast to drop below one degree celsius on 62 occasions."

The competition to name the gritters was held at this summer's Suffolk Show. The names chosen for the gritter fleet include:

  • Jon Snow
  • Big Friendly Gritter (BFG)
  • Usain Salt
  • Gritney Houston
  • Gritney Spears
  • The Grit Gritsby
  • Snow
  • Grit Britain
  • Lizzie Gritzzini

The council has said its highways team will soon be testing the new gritters on the roads.

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