Salt theft closes gritting depots

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A gritting firm has closed 20 sites across the UK after thieves took 28 tonnes of salt from a depot in County Durham.

Gritit said the salt - which had been taken over the past two weeks - could be worth £28,000 because of national shortages.

It closed its other depots as a security precaution after its Darlington depot was "cleared out".

The firm clears ice and snow from commercial premises and some hospitals.

Councils across the UK have faced shortages of salt during the recent freezing conditions.

Durham County Council rationed the use of salt to major road routes because of dwindling stocks.

Security guards

Jason Petsch, commercial director at Gritit, said: "The bottom line is salt is relatively useless but at the moment it's invaluable.

"We have heard that at the moment it's worth £1,000 a tonne, whereas normally it's only worth £50 a tonne."

The company has 80 salt depots at leased sites across the the country but it has closed 20 of these, including some in Leeds, Birmingham, Leicestershire and south Wales, because of the thefts.

Gritit employs about 160 people on contracts and operates 100 vehicles.

Mr Petsch said the firm was now considering pulling out of some areas or increasing security measures, including the installation of CCTV or employing security guards.

He added: "As you can imagine, security at our sites has not been a priority as salt cannot usually be regarded as an essential item.

"Obviously, at the moment, the circumstances have changed.

"We can only assume it was mechanically removed from the Darlington site because there is nothing left. The place was cleared out."