West Northamptonshire Council select winning gritter names from over 700 primary school entries, and they are “pretty gritty”

04 May 2023

We might be coming out of the winter season now, but West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) and Kier Highways are getting prepared and are already planning ahead for winter 2023.

Primary school pupils across West Northamptonshire attended a road safety assembly, and were invited to take part in a competition to name one of our gritters ready for our next gritting season - and the names did not disappoint.

With over 700 entries from four schools, the winter team at Kier, along with Kier’s General Manager John Coombes, and Cllr Phil Larratt, cabinet member for Environment, Transport, Highways and Waste, have had the important task of choosing the winning names. 

Pupils aged 4 to 11 entered from Brixworth Primary School, St Luke’s Primary School, East Haddon Primary School and Croughton Primary School. Each school has since been revisited by the Kier team with an opportunity to board a gritter. 

The winning gritter names are:
•    Snow Drop
•    Roadzipper
•    Frosty Flakes
•    Great Gritain
•    Salt n Pepper
•    Salty Sam
•    Pretty Gritty (in the city)
•    Icey Slicey
•    Gritzilla

“We were delighted to welcome Kier and West Northants Council into school for this project. The children and staff have been excited to share their ideas and suggestions and we are looking forward to seeing our winning names on the gritters next season.”Katie Marks, Deputy Head Teacher at St Luke’s Primary school

“Our gritters play a key role in keeping the highways across West Northamptonshire safe for road users during the colder months. We’re delighted to be able to work with school pupils across West Northamptonshire to name our fleet of gritters and we look forward to seeing these out across the area next winter.”Cllr Phil Larratt, Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport, Highways and Waste at West Northamptonshire Council

“We’ve really enjoyed visiting the schools - and providing important road safety messages and insight into the work we do on the roads. It’s been a great way to round off the winter service as we step into spring and begin our surface improvement schemes. We’re looking forward to branding the vehicles with the winning names and creating further opportunities to engage young people in the work we do across the region."John Coombes, general manager at Kier Highways

For more information see West Northamptonshire Highways.