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Teams of volunteer snow wardens could be set up across Lancashire in order to keep the county’s more minor routes passable during the worst of the winter weather – and they might be helped by young offenders.

The proposal, which is unlikely to take effect until winter 2019/20, could see youth offenders spreading grit on the roads and clearing snow as part of their community payback.

The idea was one of a series of recommendations made by a task group of county councillors exploring how Lancashire’s secondary routes can be kept safe when hit by severe weather events like last year’s so-called “Beast from the East”.

Cabinet member for highways, Keith Iddon, said that he “embraced” the suggestion that youth offenders should take part in the scheme, subject to receiving the necessary legal clearance.

“They will be mixing with other people and it may change somebody’s life in the future. They can work with [councillors] and may benefit from their wisdom and influence – [it might] change their attitude towards society,” County Cllr Iddon told a meeting of the authority’s internal scrutiny committee.

The wider volunteer scheme would involve co-ordinated teams being provided with the necessary kit and training by the county council. However, members heard that “a significant amount of work” was still required in order to determine exactly how it would operate and that it would first be trialled in the east of the county.

SNOW STATISTICS

2,054 grit bins across Lancashire – 450 in Preston, Chorley, South Ribble and West Lancashire and the majority of the remainder in the east of the county.

£350 – cost of a new grit bin

400 tonnes – amount of sand/salt deposited into county’s grit bins during an average winter

800 tonnes – amount of grit needed to keep bins topped up during harsh winter of 2017/18

£163,000 – cost of filling grit bins (2017/18)