'Less road salt ordered than last year'

The battle to keep roads safe has had less supplies allocated this year than last, according to the TaxPayers' Alliance.

It says local councils have ordered less road salt with 1.48 million tonnes in 2010/11 compared with just under 1.51 million tonnes in 2009/10.

A report added that 75 of the 205 UK councils surveyed had not received all of this year's road salt order.

The alliance also looked at the cost of purchasing emergency supplies of road salt in 2009/10 which came to £10.5 million.

TaxPayers' Alliance policy analyst Chris Daniel said: "Many councils were clearly unprepared for the latest icy spell, because they had ordered less salt than they did last year.

"It is unacceptable for councils to write off their failings by claiming that extreme winters in Britain are too rare an event for it to be worth preparing. This winter is the third in a row where severe weather has swept across the UK, so councils and highways agencies have no excuses for not having everything in place."

The report comes as there is transport operators remained under severe pressure to get the Christmas getaway back on track after days of disruption caused by the snow.

Heathrow Airport's second runway has reopened but not all planes are flying.

Many stranded air passengers spent another uncomfortable night in the terminals.

All travellers are being urged to check that their transport is operating before they head off from home.

Forecasters, meanwhile, said a thaw was unlikely in the coming days as cold weather continued.