Frosty nights are approaching but Chippenham risks having a shortage of grit bins because two councils cannot agree on who will fill them.

Neither Wiltshire Council nor Chippenham Town Council want to take the responsibility.

The existing ones are filled with salt by Wiltshire Council. It wants the town council to agree to maintain five new grit bins if it buys them, but the town council’s leisure and amenities committee has rejected the request.

Now Wiltshire Council’s Community Area Transport Group has recommended that the proposed new bins are removed from the budget, saying they cannot be bought without a commitment from the town council to refill them.

Wiltshire councillor Chris Caswill accused the town council of being ‘childish’ and said: “It was shocking that they buried their heads in the sand. Winter is coming. I think the public would expect these two organisations to talk to each other and sort it out.”

He says there will be significant roads in Chippenham without protection when temperatures go below zero.

But Adrian Jones, head of service delivery at Chippenham Town Council, said its resources were already stretched and refilling grit bins was the principal responsibility of Wiltshire Council, which acts as the statutory highways authority.

Coun Caswill said: “At Ivy Road, a steep hill, the only bins in the area are at the Bridge Centre so you have to walk over a busy icy road to collect it.

“Even more serious is Saxby Road on the Pew Hill estate, and on the other side of the B4069, Hill Corner Road. It’s a hill and there’s no grit bin in that area.”

He said this was the biggest issue he met with when canvassing in the Monkton ward for this year’s election.

Wiltshire Council did not indicate exactly where the five new grit bins would be located.

Mr Jones said in a report to councillors: “The town council has limited resources for snow and ice clearance and just about manages to clear its own areas.

“Taking on additional grit bins would stretch resources considerably and potentially set a precedent for devolving further grit bins and other highway duties and services to the town council in the future.”

He also raised concerns that if an accident happened near an empty grit bin maintained by the town council, it could face legal claims.

Bill Douglas, both a Wiltshire and town councillor, said he could not believe what he was hearing when the county’s request was rejected in a vote.

He said: “I cannot understand it, I think it’s ridiculous. If we want things anxiously enough we should be helping the financial situation. Wiltshire Council doesn’t have all the money.

“The cost is minimal, something like £500 a year, and yet when they wanted £4,500 from us for the Lowden Hill tunnel there were no objections.”