Clear snow from a road, path or cycleway

You can clear snow and ice from pavements yourself. It鈥檚 unlikely that you鈥檒l be sued or held responsible if someone is injured on a path or pavement if you鈥檝e cleared it carefully.

How to clear snow and ice

When you clear snow and ice:

  • do it early in the day - it鈥檚 easier to move fresh, loose snow
  • don鈥檛 use water - it might refreeze and turn to black ice
  • use salt if possible - it will melt the ice or snow and stop it from refreezing overnight (but don鈥檛 use the salt from salting bins as this is used to keep roads clear)
  • you can use ash and sand if you don鈥檛 have enough salt - it will provide grip underfoot
  • pay extra attention when clearing steps and steep pathways - using more salt may help

Council gritting

You can find out which roads and pavements your council grits in icy or snowy weather.