Surrey County Council is already preparing to tackle severe winter weather – even though it is high summer.

Efforts to tackle ice and snow are being stepped up by investing nearly £750,000 of savings the council made through striking a better deal with new contractors May Gurney.

Around 110 extra miles of road will be gritted regularly in severe weather, with more hills covered. Before last winter the council added 21 miles to its main gritting route.

Other new measures the council's Cabinet agreed last Tuesday (26th July) for this winter include:

• Increasing the amount of salt ordered to 16,800 tonnes from last winter's 13,000, which was 50% more than the previous year.

• Using two quad bikes to treat roads leading to rural communities and in built-up areas that larger grit lorries cannot reach*

• Enlisting the help of an extra 15 farmers with ploughs to clear snow take the total to 50 across Surrey

• Doubling the amount of grit given to borough and district councils to spread in town centres to 40 tonnes.

In addition, all 1,743 grit bins will be refilled before winter, with Surrey Fire and Rescue Service providing an additional 51 near its stations.

Surrey County Council's Cabinet Member for Transport Ian Lake said: "Sun screen and ice cream may be on most people's minds at the moment but we're thinking about snow and ice already as we prepare in advance for any severe weather that winter throws at us.

"Our plans include gritting around 110 more miles of road regularly and trialling special quad bikes to get to areas that large gritters can't reach, particularly in rural parts of Surrey. We're also making sure there's plenty of grit available for all Surrey's other councils to use in town centres and a bigger army of farmers is ready to clear snow-covered roads."