Show a grit of common sense

Reporter: Helen Korn
Date online: 21 December 2011

FRUSTRATED residents have complained after seeing motorists take grit from bins across Oldham during the recent snowfall.

The driver of a white van was spotted loading up by the bucketload from a grit bin at Grains Bar before driving off. The driver of a similar van was also seen emptying grit bins in Grampian Way, Shaw, on Sunday. The Grains Bar incident was reported to Oldham Council, which says is investigating.

There could be a legitimate reason for taking the grit — such as helping vulnerable residents clear their driveways, paths and roads elsewhere. But fed-up residents suffer the problem every winter, when bins have been emptied and there isn’t enough salt for smaller roads and driveways. They say grit is supplied for their roads.

One said: “The grit bin which has been filled up by the council has been emptied by someone in a white van who does not live at Grains Bar. The junction is one of the most dangerous in Oldham and last year it was also emptied in this way.”

A resident from Grampian Way said: “The bus always gets stuck on our road — that’s why the grit bin is there. But at noon on Sunday, I saw a guy shovelling the stuff into the back of his white van. He didn’t even have a bag or anything — I couldn’t believe it. And he didn’t put the lid down, so if anyone else needed to use it, it would have been wet.”

A council spokesman said the council is looking into a complaint at Grains Bar and encouraged the public report other incidents should bad weather return. Report incidents on 0161 770 4421.