Residents may recall that, in October, Oxfordshire County Council launched a competition to name the new fleet of gritters. The names needed to have a connection to Oxfordshire and help bring a touch of levity to the frosty season.
Almost 1,500 suggestions were received during the competition, from which a shortlist was compiled for the drivers themselves to review and select the winners. The chosen names include Agatha Gritsie, Radiospread, Snowdo Baggins and Inspector Norse.
Three of the names were selected by listeners to BBC Radio Oxfordshire, while pupils from the three closest primary schools to the depot also named a gritter each. (The pupils are going to be ‘meeting’ their gritters later in the winter.)
Additionally, some of the gritting trucks have been named in tribute to drivers and supervisors who have recently died. There has also been a gritter named Blizzard of Oz in tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne, as Black Sabbath’s debut album cover was shot on the Mapledurham estate in Oxfordshire.
The full list of names is available to view on the County Council website: Famous Oxfordshire figures inspire names for county’s fleet of gritters The gritters themselves can be tracked online once they are in use via this interactive map: Oxfordshire