Ormskirk salt company reports booming sales as people prepare for cold snap

Dec 24 2009 by Amy Salter, Ormskirk Advertiser

THE BOOKIES are currently taking bets for a white Christmas but the threat of snow is sending some people into a flurry of panic.

Last winter parts of the UK ground to a halt as gritters struggled to keep up with the icy conditions.

At one stage Lancashire County Council transport chiefs feared they would run out of the vital salt.

Reserves were down to just 30% of what they should be during the winter.

And this year it seems no one’s taking any chances, with an Ormskirk rock salt company reporting a boom in sales.

Online Rock Salt, based in Aughton, has even set up a new system to cope with demand.

A spokesman said: “In late summer an advanced robotic bagging plant was installed and over 10,000 tonnes of rock salt were pre-purchased ready for the coming season.

“The idea of this installation was to be prepared for our customers and bag up half of our salt ready for immediate dispatch. However, there has been an unusually high demand for rock salt even before the first frosts of the season.