A gritting fleet will be sent out on the roads for the first time this winter in parts of Dorset as temperatures threaten to turn the roads icy.

Twenty one lorries will start work at 8pm tonight, gritting a network of priority roads covering Wimborne, Corfe Mullen, and out towards Purbeck.

A spokesman for Dorset County Council said: “We will be treating all of the A roads and B roads across our main salting network in East Dorset and the Purbecks.

Although the air temperature will remain just above zero degrees Celsius, it’s the road surface temperature we need to monitor. Gritters will cover all the roads before their temperature reaches sub-zero later on tonight.”

They added that the gritting work will be likely to continue for the next five days, depending on the weather forecast.

Although the county experienced a relatively mild winter last year, Dorset County Council’s gritting fleet was sent out on 40 occasions to ensure roads were clear and safe to use.

From November to March, the council operate a computerised ice prediction system which monitors road surface conditions 24 hours a day. In the winter, gritters attend to 650 miles of core routes which are used by 80% of road users.