COUNCIL officials have pledged to do all they can to keep County Durham on the move during winter.

Durham County Council has set aside £2.1m for salting and gritting roads and footpaths over the next few months.

But it says it cannot treat every road without a huge increase in spending, manpower and machinery.

People in back streets and estates often complain they have to negotiate ice and snow while bigger roads and footpaths are treated. But the council's environment and technical services director, Chris Tunstall, said: "Local roads, including residential areas, come bottom of the list of priorities, and their treatment is always dependent on the availability of labour and equipment once earlier needs have been met.

"Other minor roads are generally only dealt with following requests for assistance when they become impassable due to black ice or persistent icy conditions."

The council is directly responsible for about 3,500 kilometres of roads, about 50 per cent of which are on precautionary salting routes.

"While that is already higher than average for county councils, to undertake any more would require substantial additions in funds and resources which, quite simply, we do not have and are unlikely ever to get,'' Mr Tunstall said.

"Faced with a limited amount of both, we have had to adopt a system of priorities in snow conditions which focuses on the maintenance of primary routes, followed by the restoration and maintenance of communications for industrial traffic and public transport.

"This includes all principal roads and most of the public transport routes in the county.''

Salt bins and salt heaps are provided at troublespots on minor roads, so drivers can do their own gritting. The council says overnight frost does not normally warrant the salting or gritting of footpaths