A former councillor has hit out at the lack of grit in the bins in Nelson.

Neil McGowan said he had walked around to a number of bins in the Marsden and Southfield ward and had found most of them had ‘not been filled for weeks’.

He said he had complained to Lancashire County Council.

Mr McGowan is standing as an independent councillor at the next elections after leaving the Conservatives.

He said: “This is ridiculous.

“I have been keeping an eye on the grit bins to check if they would be filled, but nothing has been done since the last snow.

“We are due bad weather again this week and you would think they would be prepared.

“They really need to be staying on top of this.”

Mr McGowan shared images of himself alongside a number of grit bins. Only one had any grit inside it and the rest were all empty.

He added: “Also, when we had the bad weather and the high winds they had blown over when they are empty.

“When I was the borough councillor for this ward, I always ensured the bins were always full.

“I reported this on the Lancashire County Council ‘Love Clean Streets app on January 18 and then again this week on Monday.”

Lancashire County Council were contacted for comment.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Last month, as the first snow of winter hit the region, Lancashire County Council's said their gritting teams were out in force patrolling through the night.

The council's gritting teams said they had treated approximately 1,500 miles of the county’s priority road network with a fleet of 45 frontline gritters.

People were asked not to use more salt and sand from the county's almost 3,000 roadside grit bins than they need to, as they can only be refilled when resources are available.