Kirklees Council leader David Sheard says they are listening to feedback about gritting.

Clr Sheard says they are endeavouring to provide up-to-date information on the council’s website and twitter feed to let people know where the gritters are.

He said: “We admit we can’t grit everywhere all the time, but where people have genuine concerns they should tell us and we’ll look at it.

Referring to images on the Examiner’s website, Clr Sheard added: “I’m sure the video of the gritting on the A62 (Marsden/Oldham border) would have shown something different if the car was following our gritter up there at a different time.

“We’re taking the criticism, at one meeting in Batley someone told us we’d not gritted, but the gritter had been out just before the meeting.

“All the information, routes and times are on the website and twitter.”

He spoke out after a number of Freedom of Information requests were submitted to the council, alleging they were neglecting routes.

One of them said only half of Ainley Top was gritted – the ‘Calderdale half’ – while the ‘Kirklees half’ was 4ft deep in snow.

However, Clr Sheard said that all of the roundabout is in Kirklees’ gritting responsibility.

He added that the authority has 29 gritters being deployed, Calderdale has 22.

There was a row about gritting in Mirfield, too, as local councillors were forced to call police in a bid to have the road – near the town’s police and fire stations – treated.

The lower part of Knowl Road – from Huddersfield Road to Doctor Lane – was not gritted on Tuesday night and Mirfield town councillor James Taylor raised the alert.

With snow forecast Clr Taylor rang West Yorkshire Police to tell them of concerns about the safety of the road.

Mirfield Police Station – though not open to the public – is in the part of Knowl Road that wasn’t gritted and Mirfield Fire Station is at the bottom of the road.

Clr Taylor said: “I had to apologise to the police if I was wasting their time but what else can you do if Kirklees Council won’t listen?”

A police spokesman confirmed they had asked the council to grit the road after “local concerns.”

A council spokesman said: “The council policy is to treat roads on the priority gritting route and only when this has been completed start gritting the secondary routes.

“The bottom of Knowl Road has always been on the secondary gritting route.”