Firms signed up for winter weather work

The city council is to put five companies on stand-by to come in to clear snow and ice during severe weather.

The agreement could cost up to £3.6 million depending on how many times contractors are used, although this is judged to be around 20 per cent cheaper than existing arrangements.

Council chiefs have drawn up the framework agreement as part of their attempts to ensure the city can deal with future weather as bad as was suffered in 2009 and 2010.

Assist Managed Services, Premier One (Land Services), Lightways, M&M Road Surfacing and Reigart Contracts are the five firms that have been included in the agreement, which councillors will be asked to sign off at a meeting of the finance and resources committee next week.

The agreement comes after 34 contractors noted an interest following an advert published by the council.