WHILE most of us spent the hazy days of summer thinking of sun, sea and sand, some people were preparing for frost, grit and snow.

Now workers at the Highways Agency's Durham depot are ready to launch into action to keep the region's roads clear.

Staff at the organisation's Carville Depot, near the A1(M) Durham junction, are keeping a particularly close eye on detailed weather reports fed daily into their computers.

They have spent all year maintaining their fleet of ploughs and powerful snow blowers.

Highways Agency maintenance manager John Wainwright said: "Information comes in from ice stations around the region, which give us site-specific weather predictions, and other forecasts also go into the computers.

"Someone here then reads them and then decides when and if to go out and how much salt to put down on each road."

From the depot, the Highways Agency is responsible for gritting the A1(M), A69, A19 and other major routes not covered by local authorities, stretching from the Scottish borders to Dishforth, just south of Thirsk and the A66 across the breadth of the North-East.

The area is covered by a network of 15 vehicles and eight reserves, which get through about 10,000 tonnes of salt in winter.

Despite all the detailed preparation, the Highways Agency is still urging drivers to be prepared and has launched a leaflet on winter driving in partnership with the Department for Transport's Think! Road safety campaign.