A NEW location for the salt pile used to grit roads in upper Wensleydale is on the point of being secured.

The heap will move from its location at the Bainbridge depot when the land is sold to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority for its new northern headquarters.

There had been rumours that the salt pile was to be stored further away, at Leyburn, but people in the area want it to remain in the upper dale.

Mike Moore, North Yorkshire County Council's director of environmental services, said these fears were unfounded.

Negotiations were taking place with a landowner with a view to storing the salt at "the best site to serve both the A684 and the Askrigg road", he told a meeting of the Upper Wensleydale Parish Forum, at West Burton.

The site, understood to be at Askrigg, would have covered storage, which will keep the salt in better condition and mean less will need to be used per mile.

Mr Moore also scotched rumours that the number of gritters operating in the upper dales had been reduced.

Many years ago, five vehicles worked out of Bainbridge, but these were replaced by larger and more powerful gritters. Since the A684, the Hardraw road, the Tank road and Swaledale were all priority routes, four front-line vehicles operated in the upper dales, with another on standby in case of breakdowns.

"We have improved the service rather than diminished it," said Mr Moore.