'Sleetwood Mac' among comedy gritter names after council appeal

Three new road gritters have been named after two music stars and a sporting legend after a council-run competition.

St Helens Council on Merseyside saw a flurry of suggestions after appealing for names for the vehicles.

Four children were among the winners with their quirky word-play submissions of Grit Astley (Never Gonna Slip You Up), Sleetwood Mac and Jonny Snowmax.

Rugby star Jonny Lomax, captain of St Helens RFC, said it was "cool" to have one named after him.

Sophie Hurst, seven, Jack Hurst, six, George Nash, seven, and Oscar Nash, were invited to the Totally Wicked Stadium, home of St Helens RFC to collect their prizes.

Stephen Bennett chose the name Grit Astley for the third gritter.

After being presented with Willowbees soft play vouchers, the children had the opportunity to meet Lomax and hop onboard the gritters which now have their names proudly displayed.

Lomax said his son was "buzzing" that his dad now has a gritter named after him.

He said: "It's a bit different but pretty cool actually seeing it.

"Hopefully we won't see it in action for a while now, although it can still be quite cold out, but it's pretty cool to be honest."

Council deputy leader Seve Gomez-Aspron said the engagement and reaction to the competition was "fantastic" with some "very clever play-on-words" put forward.

He said: "The sheer excitement on the kids' faces getting to press the gritter horns was adorable and they were equally excited to meet Jonny who was a great sport for getting involved."

The council said the new gritters are fitted with GPS tracking systems, produce few emissions and bring the total fleet size to nine, with crews on standby 24 hours a day until mid-April.

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