GRITTING lorries will again take to the streets of Colchester, despite the big freeze appearing to be near an end.

With supplies of salt being managed by the Government, Essex County Council has scaled down its gritting operation, but lorries were sent out last night to keep the roads safe.

Norman Hume, county councillor responsible for highways and transportation, said: “Forecasts are predicting there will be a slight improvement to the weather this week, but while icy conditions remain, we will continue to do everything we can to keep Essex moving.

“We started this winter from our strongest ever position in terms of readiness for these severe conditions with the highest ever levels of winter salt in stock.

“Our gritters and crews have been out night and day for four weeks treating 1,800 miles of Essex’s primary network, plus hundreds more miles of high footfall areas.”

The Met Office forecasts the weather will become drier and warmer by the end of the week, but spokesman Barry Gromett said more snow could not be ruled out.

He added: “It might get slightly less cold this week, but definitely not warmer.”

He said there was a risk of snow tomorrow morning, with a cold front coming from the west which might die out before reaching Essex.

One man hoping for a break in the weather is Colchester Zoo director Anthony Tropeano. The freezing temperatures have caused visitor numbers to drop by 20 per cent, while heating and electricity costs are spiralling.

He said: “On a normal day in January, it costs over £2,000 for heating oil and electricity to keep the zoo open and the animals warm. With the recent sub-zero temperatures, this is going to be even worse.

“We would normally see nearly 20,000 children visit Colchester Zoo for all the Christmas activities and Santa’s Enchanted Grotto. This winter, numbers were over 20 per cent down.

“Now we’re facing further losses with visitor numbers 50 per cent down in January.”