The district is now well and truly in the grip of the big freeze, as anyone who has ventured out in the last few days will testify.

Schools have been forced to close as temperatures have plummeted and early morning commutes have been taking hours in many cases, rather than the normal 20 or 30 minutes.

And, according to the forecasters, we have a few more days of the same to endure before things begin to warm up.

Last winter saw some of the worst weather for around 30 years, which took a lot of people by surprise.

With that experience to draw on, it is reasonable to expect the authorities to be better prepared for any repeat this time around.

The fact that the Council has stockpiled 7,000 tonnes more grit than last year to help keep the district’s roads and footpaths open is evidence that this is, indeed, the case.

But while that is encouraging, it is disheartening to learn that people are helping themselves to those very same grit stocks.

The result of their thievery could mean fewer roads gritted, more inconvenience for the rest of us and even more accidents.

It seems there are always those who are intent on making a difficult situation worse.

If they are ever caught, they should be made to clear snow as part of their punishment – not only would that be fitting, it would save on grit!