The decision to remove a number of key roads from the county’s gritting routes has been taken without effected schools being informed, drawing criticism from one councillor.

Last month Hertfordshire County Council decided to reduce the length of routes that would be gritted in icy weather by 49km. This includes 63 roads across Watford and Three Rivers.

However schools have still not been informed of the decision more than a month later, despite the colder weather beginning to set in.

READ MORE: Petition launched to halt gritting route changes

“It is a disgrace – the schools must be told,” said Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst, who has started a petition with his Liberal Democrat colleagues to get the council to reconsider its position.

“They’re trying to hide bad news – there can’t be any other explanation. I’m quite sure they wouldn’t have said anything about it without this petition.

“It is completely unacceptable. The decision was made against our wishes at the highways panel.”

The cost-cutting measure is expected to save the council between £12,000 and £15,000 this winter, a sum which Cllr Giles-Medhurst has branded “a false and unnecessary economy”.

However the move could yet be halted as it has been brought back to a highways panel meeting on December 1.

“We’ll keep our fingers crossed that we don’t have any bad weather before then,” added Cllr Giles-Medhurst.

“Schools are supposed to be kept open wherever possible but I was at Bromet School recently and they said they didn’t know anything about it.

"I think this a dangerous and foolhardily cost cutting measure. The county council has a duty to provide schooling but is turning its back on these and other schools.”

The council’s deadline to inform schools has now been extended until the close of play today (Tuesday November 1).

Councillor Terry Douris, responsible for the county’s highways, said Cllr Giles-Medhurst’s comment were purely political.

“The decision not driven by the council’s desire to save money. It is to make sure we have a consistent approach across the whole county,” he said.

“There are roughly 2,250km of roads we treat on every run.  We can’t have one road gritted when one of an equal standing isn’t - it has to be a blanket approach.”

Hertfordshire County Council spokesperson Terry Douris said: “Every year we review our gritting routes throughout the county.  This review was completed on behalf of the council’s highways panel in September and no major changes were made to our gritting route priority criteria.

“We do not have resources to grit every road in Hertfordshire so we have to work in a priority order in line with national legislation and best practice which provides a consistent and reasonable approach. Some minor roads might get removed if they no longer meet the criteria, for example it is no longer a public bus route, while others might be added in.

“This means that the major routes, including public bus routes, are gritted first. If resources allow, we then move onto secondary routes and footpaths.

“If a school is located on a priority route then the area around the school will be gritted.  If the school is not located on a priority route it may not. 

"Instead, schools are offered supplies of grit which can be used to clear school entrances, footways etc. This is a new service we have introduced this year – in previous years schools have only been offered grit if they are located more than 100m from a priority route."