A WAGON-LOAD of salt, rather than a mere pinch, I think, needs to be taken with Blackburn with Darwen Council leader Bill Taylor's assertion that the 64 per cent 'No' in this newspaper's poll on whether householders would be prepared to pay an extra £6.50 council tax for all the roads to be gritted during snow and ice is vindication of the town hall's policy of doing a darned sight less.

"People are accepting that we have done our best and done all that we can," he says.

Piffle! People, Bill, are saying they are paying enough already for too little - and rightly resent the suggestion that they should pay any more for the service they expect.

Rub salt in their wounds with the patronising suggestion that the council's patchwork gritting has the public's approval - didn't councillors read the deluge of protest in our Letters Page over streets being left like glass for nearly a week over the New Year? - and you may need lots of grit to stop insulted voters putting the skids under you, Bill, at the ballot box.