SUFFOLK'S gritting gurus were today confident their salt supplies would last the icy conditions - but their fate may be in the hands of the gods.

SUFFOLK'S gritting gurus were today confident their salt supplies would last the icy conditions - but their fate may be in the hands of the gods.

As weather forecasts predict rain, sleet and snow for up to two weeks, Suffolk County Council said it had supplies of grit to last just five days.

They are receiving daily deliveries, but supplies could be restricted by demand in other parts of the country with much of Britain still blanketed in snow and ice, a spokeswoman said.

Stocks will also be dependent on the severity of the coming weather and how widely the county is affected.

The county council spokeswoman said they have 3,000 tonnes of salt, which would last for five days if priority one and two routes were treated twice a day by its fleet of 39 gritters.

She said: “We are getting deliveries every day, but we can't be complacent. Our suppliers may be under pressure to provide more salt in other areas.

“If supplies become limited we may have to consider the number of runs we do. We certainly don't want people to panic or worry.

“We are monitoring it on a regular basis and at this point we have stocks to keep us going.”

Ken Blowers, The Evening Star's weather expert, said the icy weather may continue for up to a fortnight.

He said: “We could have rain, sleet or snow. They will want to grit the roads most days this week.”

The big freeze has left some councils with less than two days' supply of brown grit - rock salt - to treat icy roads.

Essex County Council received 200 tonnes of extra rock salt over the weekend to cope and it also emerged that Gloucestershire County Council bought 500 tonnes of domestic salt after running out of grit.

Are you confident the roads will be gritted properly over the coming weeks? Write to Your Letters, The Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send us an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk