Gritty McGritface? Council asks public to name its new gritter - and gets a lot of help

A council took the bold and possibly foolhardy step of asking the public for help naming its new gritter – seemingly unfazed by the recent ‘Boaty McBoatface’ saga.

Sure enough, Oldham City Council has already had suggestions such as Gritty McGritface, Spready Mercury and Usain Salt.

Others have suggested Gritter Garbo, Gritney Spears and Gritty Gritty Bang Bang.

Councillor Fida Hussain said: ‘In Oldham we’re usually hit quite hard when the snow begins to fall and we have an excellent team who work tirelessly to keep the roads clear and the borough moving.

‘Our gritters obviously play a vital role in that and so it’s nice that we can have a bit of fun by running competitions like this whilst teaching young people about road safety.

‘We’ve had suggestions such as Spready Mercury and Gritty McGrit Face and if you think you can top that there’s still time to enter.’