Salt on roads would put water at risk

DRIVERS are being warned to take extra care after icy roads resulted in several crashes yesterday.

Police were called to accidents around the island.

'Driving conditions have been atrocious,' said Traffic Sergeant John Tostevin. 'The cold spell is set to continue and people should use the roads only if necessary. Drivers should be careful and plan their journey and avoid any heavy braking.'

The Public Services Department said it was unable to salt the roads because that could pollute the island's water supply.

The UK uses rock salt on its roads to melt black ice but the whole of Guernsey is deemed to be a catchment area.

The only other option is to use grit. 'Laying gravel on top of ice just exacerbates the problem by adding another slippery material on top, like a layer of marbles,' said States Works general manager Nigel Dorey.

'All we can do for isolated incidents is put up warning signs and urge drivers to go slowly and carefully.'