Road salt shortage forces council to order new supply from Sweden

A London borough has had to order road salt from Scandinavia as fears rose today about gritting lorries running out of supplies.

Enfield is to import 1,000 tonnes from Sweden and Denmark and hopes supplies will arrive on a ship to Felixstowe "soon". It says it has about three days of supplies left if the heavy snow continues.

The borough, one of the capital's biggest, is also being supplied with grit from Richmond, which has one of the biggest stockpiles in London, of about 1,700 tonnes. Richmond was today also donating emergency supplies to Camden.

But concerns were mounting that a Government "salt cell" edict - redirecting emergency supplies from the country's main salt mill in Cheshire - could see London lose out to the North. The Department for Transport insisted there was no ban on the capital and supplies would be directed where they were most needed.

London's 33 boroughs have set up an online salt-sharing system and councils with reserves in excess of 1,000 tonnes are being asked to help those who are running out.

Enfield councillor Terry Neville called on the Government to "get a grip on grit" and ensure the capital was not starved of supplies.

Ministers faced embarrassment today when it emerged that for six months they delayed a report that may have prevented grit shortages.

It contained 19 recommendations which could have alleviated the current chaos, said senior Tory Caroline Spelman.