FOR those who have been slipping and sliding along Skipton's town centre pavements this week, the county council has said it will be gritting them tomorrow (Friday).

The reassurance comes following a complaint by a Skipton resident of Overdale Park.

He said he was 74 and able-bodied, but had been struggling to walk along The Bailey all this week because of the icy conditions.

He said he walks into town regularly to pay for his paper and collect fruit and vegetables, but said on Wednesday that it had taken him an hour.

"I've lived in Skipton for 14 years and the pavements are the worst I have known them. There is quite a distance up The Bailey that is a solid sheet of ice.

"There has been no salt spread at all and some of my elderly neighbours cannot step outside.

"I would say I am fairly fit. I have hiked the Andes and Ben Nevis, but walking along the pavement at The Bailey is treacherous. I just don't want to fall.

"We told that A&E's are struggling with the number of people going in. Well there will be a lot more visits due to falls on ice if nothing is done about it," he said.

The man, who asked not to be named, added that there was about a 20th of the footpath you could manage to walk on with care, but if you met anyone you either had to squeeze past them, which went against social distancing guidelines, or try and step into the road, part of which was also icy.

James Malcolm, Highways area manager with North Yorkshire County Council, the authority responsible for winter maintenance said: "We have a robust winter gritting service and our policy is continually reviewed. The safety of our residents is the top priority, so please be assured that our gritting teams are working around the clock to respond to poor conditions on roads, cycleways and pavements.

"During the recent wintry weather we have been treating some footways in key pedestrian areas where conditions have been particularly bad.

"In accordance with our winter maintenance policy, as daytime temperatures have been reaching above zero the footways haven’t been treated in Skipton. However, with temperatures today through to tomorrow dipping below zero our gritting teams will be treating those in the town centre in the morning (Friday, January 8).

"Busy shopping areas and main pedestrian footways are treated before 9am in severe weather. Remaining footways and cycleways are treated in priority order where resources allow."

For more information on Highways' winter service and gritting routes on roads and footpaths go to: www.northyorks.gov.uk/road-gritting