WITH more snow and freezing weather predicted Cornwall Council is urging people to listen to weather forecasts and to drive according to the weather conditions.

The council was working closely with its partners in the police, health and voluntary and community sector to ensure that vital services are maintained and that vulnerable people receive support during this time.

The council is also encouraging people to be good neighbours and check on elderly or vulnerable people living in their local communities to see if they need any help or support.

The council's 25 gritters will be carried out precautionary salting runs on all the county's A and B roads during the late afternoon and early evening of Thursday. Highways staff were monitoring the weather situation throughout the night.

"Public safety is of paramount concern and we are doing everything we can to provide as safe a passage as possible for people who use our roads" said Simon Deacon, Highways Operations Manager for Cornwall Council. "However it is vital that people do not assume that a road has been salted and we would urge drivers to ensure that they drive according to the road conditions".

Following reports of councils in other parts of the country using sand to treat roads, Highways staff from Cornwall Council carried out a small trial using sea sand donated by a company in North Cornwall to treat ice and snow on a footpath near the depot in Bodmin.

Unfortunately the sea sand had very little effect on the snow and ice and, therefore, there are no plans to extend its use to treat roads in the county.

The council has received confirmation from its suppliers that it will receive a consignment of salt on Wednesday, 13 January and it is confident that it has sufficient supplies to continue to carry out precautionary salting on the main A and B routes until that time.

About 200 primary and secondary schools across Cornwall were closed on Wednesday, with approximately 75 schools announcing that they will also be closed today (Friday).

Helston library was closed all day, and Redruth mobile library van was unable to run. A number of libraries also closed early as a result of the weather conditions, including the Reference library, Bude Library and One Stop Shop, Callington Library, Penzance Library, Padstow Library, St Austell Library, Camborne Library, Newquay Library, Redruth Library, Falmouth Library and Wadebridge Library.