COUNCIL bosses have been urged to consider buying extra gritting vehicles after this week's snow chaos.

The plea to Blackburn with Darwen Council came after officers revealed that some main roads had not been gritted before Monday's snowstorm.

They said this was because it takes four hours for Blackburn with Darwen's fleet of seven gritters to complete a circuit of priority routes.

A Weather report received by the council at 1.30pm on Monday indicated that snow would fall after 6pm. Gritters hit the road at 2pm which resulted in them being caught up in rush hour traffic. Snow also began falling earlier than expected, resulting in huge rush hour queues on untreated roads.

The council has seven gritters and one snow blower, with Lancashire County Council and borough councils having 100 gritters to serve the rest of the county.

Coun Paul Browne, leader of the Liberal Democrats at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "The council should now look into getting an extra gritting vehicle.

"This would reduce the time it takes to grit the priority routes and would have kept traffic moving on Monday, rather than making journeys which normally take 15 minutes last three hours.

"It is the second time in just over a year this has happened and I now want the council to put some money aside as a precaution for next year.

"The officers should also be able to hire gritters at short notice if they have to. This can't keep happening."

But Coun Colin Rigby, leader of the Conservatives, said: "While I would agree the whole issue needs looking at, I don't think another gritter is the answer. The weather forecast on Sunday night was predicting snow. To me, that should be the signal to send out the gritters and keep them out.

"Weather forecasts can't be so accurate as to predict an exact time when it will snow. The management of the gritting needs to be reviewed so vehicles are out sooner."

Director of director services for the council, Peter Hunt, sent a report to councillors on Tuesday, admitting that not all the main roads had been gritted when snow fell and it had turned to ice.

Today he said: "The gritter capability hasn't increased or decreased since becoming unitary in 1998. According to Highways Agency guidelines councils are not required to grit every street and road in the borough.

"Blackburn with Darwen Council already does more than the agency guidance suggests."