Bury Council is sending its gritters out this evening for its first run of the season as temperatures are expected to drop.

The streetscene winter service is made up of five vehicles, 12 drivers, four supervisors and four decision makers.

The team works on standby for three nights at a time.

The service operated all the way through until April this year.

There are 324 salt bins in spots known for trouble across the area, including where there are sharp bends or steep inclines.

The team will decide whether or not to apply grit based on the winter forecast service, which is activated when temperatures are expected to fall below freezing.

Councillor Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, climate change and operations, said the forecasts would be monitored so they could be deployed when appropriate.

He said: “Keeping Bury moving and keeping people safe is a priority, so as winter starts to kick in our experienced team are ready for action.

“Forecasts will be constantly monitored so that we can pick the best times to send the gritters out and our team will be on standby 24 hours a day, seven days a week, working through the night until next April.

“Last year we made a total of 67 grit runs treating around 25,000 km of road with 3,000 tonnes of salt.

"That’s further than from Bury to Mexico and back."