Ice a problem as cold snap continues.

DEVON County Council is thanking communities for their efforts to help each other through the big freeze over the past week.

However, it is warning that roads and footways across the county are set to remain icy over the coming days with the possibility of isolated snow showers returning across the county up until midnight tonight. Freezing conditions are forecast to continue overnight, with road surface temperatures expected to reach as low as -7C.

Teams have been treating secondary routes, clearing high streets and town centres and clearing accesses into smaller communities throughout the day. Grit bins are being filled where possible ahead of the Christmas holidays.

Councillor Stuart Hughes said: “This has been an extremely prolonged cold spell and it’s encouraging that we have seen communities coming together to help each other, particularly in areas off of our main gritting routes. All of the agencies have also been working well throughout, and the majority of our major roads have kept moving as much as possible in what are exceptional circumstances.

“All of our teams are working as hard as they can to keep our network as clear as they can, but conditions remain treacherous. Motorists must take extreme care if they are considering travelling and pedestrians should take care on pavements.”

Gritters will be out on all of the county’s main salting routes again this evening, covering 1,700 miles of Devon’s highway network. The Highways Agency will also be out treating 170 miles on its strategic road network in the county.

The council has 10,000 tonnes of salt in its stocks, having used around 15,000 tonnes so far this winter. It is awaiting a delivery of an additional 8,000 tonnes.