Icy road warning for Dorset (From Thisisdorset)

Icy road warning for Dorset

7:30am Thursday 17th December 2009 in

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DRIVERS are being warned to take extra care over the next few days as falling temperatures cause icy roads throughout the area.

Dorset Police are urging motorists to be cautious after a heavily iced-up road was thought to have been a factor in two minor incidents in Branksome Park on Wednesday morning.

The first, which took place around 8.26am, involved a Citroen Dispatch and a Vauxhall Astra, with the second collision involving a blue Vauxhall Astra saloon and a Mazda white panel van.

All the drivers escaped without injury.

A spokesperson for Dorset Police said: “Motorists should always ensure that their driving and their speed are commensurate with the road conditions.

“They should always take care and in wet and icy weather allow much more time between vehicles.”

Councils in Bournemouth and Poole, and Dorset County Council, had clubbed together over the summer to buy extra salt supplies.

Road managers at County Hall sent gritting lorries out onto Dorset’s main roads at 4.30am.

Their weather report had forecast overnight rain, light snow in places, and plummeting temperatures by the early hours, making icy roads the authority’s “priority hazard”.

People in Shaftesbury woke up to a light covering of snow yesterday.

Thick fog and heavy drizzle covered the town by late afternoon, leaving residents fearing more snow today.

Bournemouth council’s gritting lorries were being prepared for action late on Wednesday afternoon.

The council was planning to use a treated salt product called Safecote, which it says has effective de-icing properties.

A spokesman said managers had monitored Met Office forecasts for a “trigger point” at which the lorries would be deployed.

The town’s main commuter routes, and roads leading to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, had been prioritised by the council, she added.

John Sayers, Poole council’s principle engineer, said the authority was preparing to send out its gritters this morning.