St Helens Borough Council launches Winter Service to keep the borough safe and moving
With temperatures beginning to drop, St Helens Borough Council has activated its winter service - ensuring that the borough stays safe, connected, and on the move throughout the colder months.
Article date: 30 October 2025
Running from early October through to April, the council's dedicated winter service team will once again be working around the clock to tackle the challenges that ice, snow, and freezing conditions bring each year.
At the heart of the operation is the council's gritting service, which covers an impressive 178 miles of priority routes - around 39 per cent of the entire road network - across seven primary gritting routes. These include:
- All strategic routes
- Major bus routes
- Roads leading to fire stations, ambulance stations and hospitals
- Roads on significant hills or inclines and known trouble spots
A full list of the borough's gritting routes is available at: www.sthelens.gov.uk/GrittingRoutes.
To ensure the most efficient response, Duty Engineers monitor conditions 24 hours a day using detailed local forecasts provided by MetDesk, which predict freezing road temperatures, snowfall, rainfall, and the timing of severe weather. Two local weather stations continuously record key data such as air temperature and road surface conditions, providing real-time, highly localised information to guide gritting operations.
This data-driven approach allows the council to deploy gritters at the right time and in the right places, helping to prevent ice formation and improve road safety for residents, commuters, and emergency services.
Also helping to keep the borough safe and moving are the council-owned grit bins, which people are encouraged to use to treat roads and footpaths in the vicinity of the bins.
Locations of grit bins across the borough are carefully prioritised in areas with challenging conditions such as steep hills and sharp bends that are not on priority gritting routes. Grit bins are provided to support community efforts in maintaining safe access on public highways in the vicinity. They are not for private use, and their supply is not limitless.
A full list of locations can be found on our website: www.sthelens.gov.uk/article/3128/Grit-bin-locations
Councillor Kate Groucutt, Cabinet Member for Business and Inclusive Growth, said:
"Keeping the borough safe and moving during the winter months can present real operational challenges, but our dedicated services across St Helens Borough Council rise to meet them every year - minimising the detrimental effects of ice and snow on highway users.
"Residents are encouraged to stay informed, plan ahead, and be careful and prepared. Notices of road conditions and gritting activity can be found on the council's website and social media channels throughout the winter period."
For more tips and information on staying warm, well, and safe this winter - including cost-of-living support - visit www.sthelens.gov.uk/sthelenstogether.