THE county’s fleet of gritters treated the road network three times overnight and are on standby to go out again this afternoon.

Essex County Council has said further runs could be taken later today depending on snow forecasts and readings from road-side temperatures across the county.

The full precautionary network is being treated which includes all A and B roads, access routes for emergency services, rural link road and major public transport routes.

Norman Hume, who is responsible for highways and transportation on the council, said: “Our winter gritters have been working day and night to keep the county’s main roads moving.

“We are closely monitoring weather forecasts and will be continuing to treat the network as required. I would urge residents to travel with extreme caution at this time, allowing extra time for their journeys and checking the latest weather and traffic updates before they travel.”

Tendring District Council (TDC) has warned that today’s refuse collection in the district is unlikely to be completed because of the icy conditions.

The crews did the best job they could yesterday and managed to clear around 60 to 70 per cent of their rounds.

Anyone who does not have their waste and recycling collected by the end of today should take the bags in and put them out again next Friday for a double collection.

It will be the same for those who missed out yesterday. They will get a double collection next Thursday.

Chris Kitcher, acting head of environmental services at the council, said that some disruption to the service is inevitable.

“In these extreme conditions there is no possibility of the crews managing to get all the way round as they are taking longer to collect the bags,” he said. “They are doing their very best but some people will miss out.”

All Clacton town centre car parks are open but Martello Car and Coach Park in Clacton remains shut as does York Road and Hazelmere Road sites in Holland-on-Sea.

Milton Road Car Park in Dovercourt is open but the ground floor only.

The only one of TDC’s 41 public toilets currently closed is in the High Street Car Park in Clacton.