TACKLING snow and ice on the roads is under sharp focus once more, as City of York Council reveals its annual gritting programme.

The authority is gearing up for the winter, and has produced its winter leaflet telling residents and motorists which key routes will be cleared in the coming months.

The document, which is available in council receptions, libraries and leisure centres, shows how the council aims to tackle the winter weather - an issue which causes controversy in the city every year.

This time around, the council will be sugar-coating its problem by using a mollases-based product called Safecoat, which should help the grit stick better to roads while saving the authority cash on its annual salt bill. It is also better for the environment.

In March, the Evening Press reported how one week of severe winter squalls cost a whopping £180,000 - and put the council way over its winter maintenance budget.

The council says it salts more than 50 per cent of its roads - a much higher percentage than the 25-30 per cent in most other authorities.

It also treats a number of "priority footpaths", including the city centre area; Front Street, Acomb; The Village, Haxby; Old School Court; William Plows Avenue; Wentworth Road; Scarcroft Hill and Oak Rise.

In preparation for the onset of colder weather, and icy paths, the weekend saw the council testing its salting equipment and ensuring drivers are familiar with designated gritting routes.

Coun Ann Reid the council's transport chief, said: "Every year we remind residents of the gritting programme.

"Again we have managed to maintain the same number of roads and footpaths to be gritted this coming winter and the council is ready to respond as soon as any bad weather arrives."

Meanwhile, in North Yorkshire, snowed-under children could be trapped at home unable to get to school, opposition Liberal Democrats have warned.

They are angry that roads used by school buses are not automatically considered top priority for gritting when the county council's fleet takes to the roads in the winter.

Norton councillor David Lloyd-Williams said: "When the county council is responsible for the safe transport of so many young people, it saddens me that for yet another winter many rural children are likely to miss lessons because school transport will not be able to get through."

North Yorkshire County Council is responsible for more than 8,000km of roads in Ryedale, Hambleton, Selby and elsewhere, and its fleet of gritters, snowploughs and snow blowers is the largest of any local authority in England.

Last winter, about ten per cent of the county's 400 schools had to close at some point.

Some York children travel to be educated in North Yorkshire, such as those attending Easingwold School or Tadcaster Grammar School.

Updated: 09:59 Monday, October 31, 2005