Somerset Council prepares to treat melting roads in heat

Highways teams are on standby to grit melting roads in the heat.

Somerset County Council announced its teams will be at hand to treat roads affected by the extreme weather.

Hot weather warnings have been issued for the next few days and could become high enough for asphalt to soften, creating hazardous driving conditions.

The council said it will be monitoring the situation "carefully" and warned members of the public to notify police on 101 if there is a problem.

Highways teams will be using two pre-loaded 18-tonne gritters to spread stone dust on melting and sticky roads - additional HGV drivers are on standby to ensure swift reaction.

There are 60 tonnes of additional stone dust at depots in Dunball and Glastonbury.

The stone dust absorbs the soft bitumen and helps to stabilise the road.

Somerset County Council executive lead member for transport and digital Mike Rigby said: "We'll be monitoring the situation carefully.

"Our teams are prepared and ready to head out to any trouble spots so they can be dealt with swiftly.

"If you do spot a problem please do call our contact centre immediately or if it's at the weekend call 101 for Avon and Somerset Police, they will relay the location to our teams."

Somerset County Council said it looks after 4,172 miles of road.

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