GRITTER fans can keep tabs on Grittney Spears, Usain Salt and the rest of the gang as they travel the county during wintry weather.

Visitors to East Sussex County Council’s website this winter will be able to watch the progress of the gritters as they travel the 950 miles of roads in the county that are treated.

The information, collected by electronic tracker devices on each of the 24 gritters, is already fed back to the control hub at the Ringmer Depot to enable the highways team to plan and monitor gritting.

But thanks to new technology, motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and other road users will be able to watch the gritters’ movements in real time.

“This is a great addition to our website,” said Roger Williams, head of highways at the county council. “We are often asked where and when we grit and now people can see for themselves.

“The real time gritter feed will keep people informed of which roads have been treated in the event of snow and ice and is another useful tool  to enable us to communicate with the public.”

The East Sussex Highways Twitter account @esccroads has already proved a hit with motorists and has more than 5,500 followers.

Roger added:  “Twitter has been extremely successful in allowing us to answer queries, give regular updates and receive information about problems on our roads.”

Information about why and when roads are gritted, which roads are prioritised and what residents can do to stay safe during severe weather is available at www.eastsussex.gov.uk/coldsnap

“Every year we ask people to take responsibility and be prepared for severe weather,” Roger added. “We are confident that the amount of information we share will help them to do this.”