ICY roads in Darlington could be treated with a more environmentally friendly form of salt this winter.

The new type of salt that will be used on some routes in Darlington could also save the council money.

The salt is environmentally friendly and not toxic to grass or plants. It is also less corrosive on cars.

Darlington Borough Council's gritting machines should suffer less damage and last longer.

To help the council in the trials, Harrowgate Hill Junior School will carry out a comparison with the new salt against ordinary salt.

The research will be carried out by year six pupils with results used in conjunction with the council's own trials.

Councillor Nick Wallis, the council's cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "Anything that will improve the efficiency of council services is to be welcomed. In addition to this, other road users should see a direct benefit as well.

"Not only will they be safer because of the gritting procedure, they will experience less corrosion from the rock salt.

"The salt is more sticky and less likely to bounce off the road and hit other vehicles during the gritting process. We look forward to the results of the trials."

Each year the council uses 4,000 tonnes of salt on the borough's roads across nine set routes, using seven gritters.

The team are on 24-hour standby and can be on the road within an hour of a bad weather notice."