COUNCIL bosses are hoping the freezing weather does not continue into the weekend after admitting they only have up to three days worth of grit remaining.

The news comes after further snow flurries fell today on already icy and treacherous roads around the borough.

With a national shortage of grit still in place and remaining stocks being distributed to the worst hit areas of the country, staff at Barnet Council have said they are still waiting on extra deliveries which have been on order for weeks.

The circumstances have forced gritting teams to significantly cut back on the number of roads they treat in a desperate attempt to preserve what salt they have.

And after only gritting priority one routes during the first snow fall last week, the council announced on Thursday it was reducing its gritting coverage by a further 25 per cent.

It meant only 60 roads, representing the key transport network, would be cleared, leaving a large proportion of the borough's 400 miles of road untreated.

Councillor Daniel Thomas, cabinet member for environment and transport, insisted the council's storage was at full capacity before the cold snap set in last December, but admitted they were relying on good fortune to see that their stocks do not run out.

He said: “As long as the weather doesn’t take a turn for the worse, at anyone time we have enough grit to last another two or three days.

“While we would like to be sitting on a pile of grit, the national distribution scheme seems to be working well.

“Key roads, necessary to keep London moving, are continuing to be gritted over night, and where snow falls during the day, gritters are sent out to ensure road conditions are as safe as possible for the rush hour journey home.

“As with many other council’s up and down the country we are due deliveries but this obviously depends on the situation elsewhere in the country where snow has been heavier.”

A warmer forecast is in place for over the weekend and Cllr Thomas said the news will be “welcome relief” to the council, gritting crews and residents.