Queensferry “Name the Gritter” Winner

As the winter weather gets into full swing, the local winners of Transport Scotland’s “Name the Gritter” competition are being announced.

The winning entry from Queensferry Primary School is “The Golden Great Gritter”, from Abigail Whyte, aged 8.

The new name has now been put on the side of the vehicle and will be visible to local people on the trunk roads around Queensferry when the gritters are dispatched to make the roads safe during freezing temperatures.

A total of 15 gritters from the fleet that helps keep Scotland’s trunk roads moving have been given names by local school children or by families who visited Glasgow Riverside museum during the school holidays.

In total, 13 schools took part in the competition and Amey and the other trunk road operating companies have been out visiting the classes to teach them more about how the gritters work and how they try to keep the roads safe when it is snowy or icy.

Transport Scotland’s Winter Resilience Manager, Martin Thomson said:

“We had some fantastic entries for the gritter competition and it was very hard to pick the winners.  So we want to say thank you to everyone who took part for their imaginative suggestions.

“While the competition is great fun for the children, I hope they have also learned something about our efforts to keep the trunk roads running during the winter.  It is an important service and we do all we can to help people get to school and work, regardless of the conditions.

“That means that our gritters are generally out very early in the morning or late at night but I hope that children might get to spot them at some point during the coming months.”