PLANS for a salt grit storage facility to serve Bellingham and the surrounding area are being considered by Northumberland County Council.

The current salt sore is at the uncovered Highways Depot next to the Carriages Tearoom and Bellingham Heritage Centre, but the council are contemplating a more secure location.

A spokesperson for Northumberland County Council said: "We haven't been able to secure planning permission for a salt barn at our depot, which is in the centre of the village, and are therefore looking for other more suitable locations.

“Ideally we would prefer to have all of our highways operations in one place, but suitable sites are very difficult to find and it is therefore too early to comment on what the future position is for the existing depot which remains a key operational base.”

"Operating winter services from the Bellingham area is critical to effective winter services operations for the council.

“We need to ensure that our stocks of salt used for treating the roads during the winter is kept dry as this aids its handling and spreading by the gritters, and minimises waste for what is an increasingly expensive material.”

An application for the construction of a covered storage barn to hold up to 6,000 tonnes of grit salt at the Bellingham Highways depot was submitted in 2016 but didn't go ahead.