People on Barra were puzzled the island’s gritter lorry caught the ferry to Uist to get a load of salt during wintry weather this morning.
While it was sailing away on the 9.25am ferry, more snow covered the icy roads, say locals.
One islander said: “In this time, a few vehicles went off the roads and many could not make it up the steep incline at Brevig, having to turn back.
“The gritter lorry was refilled and came back to Barra on the lunchtime ferry after 1pm.”
The islander asked: “Why did the council not prepare for this? How often do we have
snow? It is a disgrace that cars have been damaged but luckily no-
The Comhairle explained gritting on Barra is carried out with a trailing “bunce” or salt spreader which allows the contractor to use other lorries to carry out this operation and ensures there is a gritting resource in place.
A spokesman said: “The roads on Barra were gritted this morning and this afternoon.
“A boatload of salt was delivered to Lochmaddy on Tuesday and a proportion of this was taken to our gritting contractor in Lochboisdale partly in order that the gritting contractor on Barra would be able to come over and collect salt as necessary.
“The contractor has been doing this over the last couple of days and there is more salt coming over to Barra tomorrow.
More grit for Barra roads
29 January 2015