Concerns over local salt boxes

The boxes had been provided in developments throughout the town but Banbridge District Council have received several complaints about their condition.

Residents in Bridgeway, Laurel Heights, Mornington, Richmond Heights and Maryville told Councillors that lids from the boxes were missing.

That meant water was getting into the boxes and freezing.

Councillor Jim McElroy raised the issue having received numerous complaints from local residents.

He told the Public Service Liaison Committee that he had contacted Transport NI about the issue but noted that the lids on the boxes were yet to be replaced.

Councillor David Herron suggested that the boxes themselves needed to be replaced and should have been “a number of years ago”.

Councillor Joan Baird, meanwhile, said that a lot of the boxes had been vandalised and suggested that they be collected at the end of winter and be brought back out again for the next frosty season.

There have also been reports of salt being ‘stolen’ from the boxes.