WORCESTERSHIRE Highways gritting crews have parked-up their vehicles for the final time this season, but not before clocking up the equivalent mileage of travelling more than three times around the world during the winter.

Teams were officially stood down on Wednesday (April 15) after covering more than 87,000 miles of road across the county each and every time temperatures dipped sub-zero since mid-October 2014.

Despite the fact that (thankfully) Mother Nature was kind enough not to bring extended periods of snowfall, gauges dropped below freezing regularly resulting in an increase of more than 35,000 miles covered when compared to last year (2013/14) as teams worked around the clock to keep highways safe for motorists and Worcestershire 'Open for Business'.

Jon Fraser, county council spokesperson for Highways, said: "It's been another very busy winter for our gritting crews. The number of times they were required increased significantly when compared to 2013/14. Over the festive period, crews clocked up the equivalent number of miles of travelling from County Hall in Worcester to Delhi in India and back again in just a couple of weeks.

"The teams have been stood down for another season but over the summer we will be busy preparing for the next winter season, so that we are ready to swing into action again later this year.

"Finally, we'd thank all the motorists across Worcestershire for playing their part by adjusting their driving to the conditions when freezing temperatures bit. Grit has never been, or never will be, a miracle cure so extra care is always needed when gauges drop sub-zero."

The official end of the gritting season also means the @worcscc Twitter account will leave its #GritterTwitter mode.

Worcestershire Highways crews will be continuing their work during the warmer months. In addition to the work of repairing potholes and other road defects, teams will be travelling around the county between now and August improving around 300 stretches of road as part of this year's £3.95million surface dressing programme. Further information about that work can be found at worcestershire.gov.uk/surfacedressing.