Cost-cutting plans to reduce gritting routes across Hertfordshire are “dangerous” and “devastating”, a councillor has warned.

Hertfordshire County Council announced last week that it will be axing 49km of gritting routes, and these include a number of steep, residential roads and widely-used country lanes.

Sara Bedford, Three Rivers District Council leader, is urging the county council to reverse its decision.

She said: "Across Three Rivers a number of important roads will be left in a possibly dangerous state over the winter.

"Most worryingly, many rural roads will be left unprotected. These include Langleybury Lane, Redhall Lane & Fir Tree Hill, plus the route via Church Lane and North Hill from Sarratt to the A404 by St. Clement Danes School.

"I am calling on Hertfordshire County Council to reverse these devastating and dangerous cuts, to ensure residents can travel safely during the winter months."

Some of the roads where gritting will be axed include Trowley Rise, Winton Drive, Carpenders Avenue, Loudwater Lane, parts of Oaklands Avenue, Blaketts Wood Drive, Chalfont Lane and a number of roads in South Oxhey.

Terry Douris, Hertfordshire County Council cabinet member for Highways, said: “We have been reviewing our highway winter gritting routes to ensure that we have a consistent approach to treating the right roads at the right time and that we aren’t missing any roads that meet our criteria.

"We carry out precautionary gritting of around 2275km of roads and the review has highlighted that around 49km needs moving onto the category of routes that get treated during periods of prolonged wintery weather.

"Our priority during bad weather is to keep our main transport routes moving and this is a massive task. It is simply not feasible to apply the precautionary process everywhere.”

Three Rivers District councillors are also angry that the county council has vetoed a move to allow schools in Hertfordshire to request gritting salt.

At present, only schools more than 100 metres from a salt-gritting route can apply for free salt. But councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst feels all schools should be entitled to it.

He said: "This is mean-spirited and means a two-tiered system. Many urban schools in town centres are within 100 metres of a gritting route, but the roads and pavements next to schools are not because they are on a side road.

"This creates a hazard for children. Even if the school and parents wanted to help out they would have to find the salt and grit themselves. That is wrong.

"This is quite frankly a disgrace especially as the council has a massive stock, and has been offered a large amount from Tesco, free of charge. I demand they re-think this refusal."