Gritters on standby as extra long and harsh winter is forecast for Barnsley

Barnsley Council normally operates a 24 week winter period, when 54 members of staff are on standby around the clock and ready to be mobilised to help keep the roads gritted and traffic moving in the event of bad weather.

But councillor Chris Lamb, a member of the council’s ruling Cabinet, said measures will remain in place for an additional fortnight at the end of winter next year ‘as a result of long range predictions from the Met Office’.