London - District authorities in Britain said Saturday it may have to resort to gritting roads with table salt after supplies of road salt ran low following a week of heavy snow falls.

Gloucestershire, in south west England, has ordered 500 tonnes of table salt which will be used from Sunday to keep roads passable.

Local authorities are expecting a shipment from Spain of 40,000 tonnes of road salt to arrive on Wednesday, whilst another shipment is also due from Germany.

Further snow falls are scheduled for this weekend, after a week in which much of southern Britain saw its heaviest snow for 20 years.

Sub-zero overnight temperatures have also turned many roads into frozen ice rinks, with the situation particularly bad around the south west city of Bristol.

However, Bristol airport has reopened, although flights are suffering long delays. (dpa)