Clear snow from a road, path or cycleway

You can clear snow and ice from pavements yourself. It’s unlikely that you’ll be sued or held responsible if someone is injured on a path or pavement if you’ve cleared it carefully.

How to clear snow and ice

When you clear snow and ice:

  • do it early in the day - it’s easier to move fresh, loose snow
  • don’t use water - it might refreeze and turn to black ice
  • use salt if possible - it will melt the ice or snow and stop it from refreezing overnight (but don’t use the salt from salting bins as this is used to keep roads clear)
  • you can use ash and sand if you don’t have enough salt - it will provide grip underfoot
  • pay extra attention when clearing steps and steep pathways - using more salt may help

Council gritting

You can find out which roads and pavements your council grits in icy or snowy weather.

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