Liberal Democrats on Hertfordshire County Council were astounded to learn that during the icy period the County Council had to borrow grit from neighbouring authorities. All the time while doing this they insisted that they had enough supply and there was no issue.

Chris White, Leader of the opposition at Herts County Council, said: ‘With ice on the roads and only the main routes being gritted drivers were naturally wary of the condition of our roads. When we highlighted that there may be an issue they denied it. Yet now we discover from other councillors on other authorities that we were being spun a line.

‘All we are asking is that the council tells residents what the real situation is, not what they feel we should know. It is bad enough to spin it to us for fear of bad publicity but to spin it to the public is unforgivable.’