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Gritters get multi-faith blessings

Lincolnshire County Council Zen Buddhist monk the Reverend Gando Seiko Garrod wearing a dark robe and a wooden staff with a metal emblem on top stands with his hands clasped in prayer in front of the bright yellow gritter lorriesLincolnshire County Council
The blessings were done by members of the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Jewish faiths

Lincolnshire's gritters have been blessed by religious leaders.

The multi-faith ceremony took place at the county council's Ancaster depot.

The fleet covered almost 30,000 miles (48,000km) during November's cold snap.

Stuart Cradduck, rector of St Wulfram’s Church in Grantham, said: “It’s lovely to be part of this blessing for the gritters in the county."

He added: "The team work very hard in all sorts of very bad weather to keep road users like me safe and it’s very much appreciated.”

Nina Chapman, lay Hindu chaplain at the University of Lincoln, said the work of the gritters had a bigger message.

“Gritting the roads where we live is very important in order to keep people as safe as possible," she said.

"But it’s also important to think about being kind, considerate and aware of other road users when travelling.”

Lincolnshire County Council Members of the faith group with their backs to the camera having a tour of the gritting depot by a manager dressed in a white hard hat and high visibility clothing stood in front of a mound of brown saltLincolnshire County Council
Representers of the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Jewish faiths were given a tour of the facility

When temperatures dropped to -7C in November, the fleet of 43 lorries spread more than 2,500 tonnes of salt on the county's roads.

Many are named after famous Lincolnshire residents, including the Spread Arrows, Sir Ice-ac Newton and Mar-grit Thatcher.

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