Extra supplies of salt are due in Pembrokeshire today (Monday).

Pembrokeshire County Council is one of a handful of local authorities in the UK taking delivery of evaporated salt from chemical company Ineos in Cheshire.

Because the form of salt is not currently approved for use on primary and secondary routes on the Pembrokeshire road network, it will be mixed with grit to help de-ice the county’s minor roads and pavements.

The first of what is anticipated to be several loads is expected to be delivered later today to contractors, G.D. Harries and Sons, at their Templeton depot.

Council Leader, Councillor John Davies, stressed the deliveries were an addition, not a replacement, to the authority’s normal source of approved rocksalt for use on the main roads.

He said the council was continuing to receive supplies – along with other Welsh local authorities – from the Salt Cell emergency planning co-ordination body, administered by the Welsh Local Government Association.

Councillor Davies paid tribute to the council’s workforce, many of whom are working long hours in extreme weather conditions.

“Our highway maintenance crews, for example, are working round the clock to ensure the main routes in Pembrokeshire remain open," he said.

“I want to thank them and their families for the sacrifice they are making in these difficult times."

In nearby Carmarthenshire concerns about salt supplies are growing .

Around 650 tonnes of salt was used to treat primary roads over the weekend. In addition to this, town centre areas, footpaths, housing estate roads, side roads and school accesses were treated with quarry stone grit to help restore access.

All primary routes are clear and many of the side roads are now passable.

Around 225 tonnes of salt were delivered on Friday, but no further deliveries are expected in the near future. There is currently enough stock for between two and five days of salting.

“Our last proper delivery, as per our contract with suppliers, was in November, and our supplies are diminishing," said Carmarthenshire’s environment executive board member Cllr Haydn Jones.

“We are now totally reliant on the Salt Cell regarding further supplies and don’t know when the next delivery will be.

“We are still treating main routes and have treated town centres and pavements over the weekend but we are concerned about future supplies of salt.”