Turbo spreaders are the latest weapon in Surrey County Council's armoury to tackle ice and snow this winter.

The hand-pushed devices are being used to spread grit on footpaths, particularly in town centres to make it safer for people to move about during severe weather.

The spreading mechanism means grit is dispersed more evenly compared with using shovels which makes paths safer for pedestrians and means less grit is needed to do the job.

Ian Lake, Surrey County Council's Cabinet Member for Transport, said: "The turbo spreaders are an effective way of gritting footpaths and because they spread salt more evenly compared to shovelling they make surfaces safer for people to walk on. They also use less salt which means our supplies will last longer. However, surfaces can be tricky even on a gritted path so I would urge people to take extra care."

The county council has 36 turbo spreaders which have been given to districts and boroughs to use on essential footpaths.