In praise of our council

It's not often that we, as the official opposition, commend our borough council, but in the case of the recent snow, the staff from Epsom & Ewell's Operational Services Department were positively heroic!

Surrey County Council is responsible for "gritting" - actually it's not grit, it's rock-salt. But when their contractors didn't appear, our own refuse collectors went out in vans armed with salt that was already in store.

More salt was then bought in at £50 per tonne because the County couldn't supply any; when that was used up more was ordered at £68 per tonne and when that ran out the price had jumped to £99 per tonne.

By then, conditions were a little better. A splendid service from a dedicated bunch of people, but why should Epsom & Ewell's staff (and Council Tax payers) have to prop up a service that we already pay the County Council to provide?