MOTORISTS and farmers have criticised the trial use of a gritting salt that they say leaves a dangerous slippery sheen on road surfaces - and can even be addictive to sheep.

Cumbria County Council cabinet has approved the experimental use of molasses – a sugar cane by-product that helps bond rock salt to road surface, preventing the need for re-gritting when passing vehicles blow salt from the tarmac.

The council hope molasses will prevent salt stocks depleting during winter weather, but the substance has caused problems elsewhere in the country - causing blocked roads while sweet toothed sheep lick it from roads.

Spokesman for the British Motorcyclist’s Federation, Jeff Stone, said: “People have skidded off their bikes because of molasses. It does the job of reducing the amount of salt needed, but you end up with this sludgy slime over the roads. You loose one problem and gain another.”

He said the substance was a talking point among bikers, and had built up a reputation for being dangerous.

“It’s become well known anecdotal folklore. There’s enough talk about it to know its dangers aren’t just hearsay. It’s not just bikers either. Cars can skid on it too.

Mr Stone added that the product became more dangerous in milder weather, and also facilitated metal corrosion.

“When the snow melts you end up with this slippery mess. It’s like putting a toffee apple in the fridge to harden - when you take it out again it becomes all runny. Road salt attacks metal on cars and bikes, and molasses make it worse because they make the salt stick,” said Mr Stone.

Molasses are also a bad idea according to a North Wales farmer, who fought against their introduction in Flintshire after roads became clogged with sheep looking for a free meal.

“They became addicted to it. To them it was like putting treacle or syrup on your bread and butter,” said Elfed Evans.

“As soon as the gritter had gone past, flocks of sheep would come down of the hills to the road and start licking . It was delicious to them. They blocked the road and it was a job to get them to shift,” added the 81-year-old.

The trial use of molasses coincides with a Government report by the UK Road Liason Group stating the country had insufficient salt reserves to deal with February’s snowfall.

A Cumbria County Council Spokesman said the introduction of molasses to the rock salt would reduce the need for gritting, leading to a reduced carbon footprint from gritting vehicles and providing a faster response to snow and ice control than traditional rock salt.

The trial run, in October, will take place on an unnamed gritting route to asses the effectiveness of molasses.

The spokesman said that tests had proved molasses to be less corrosive than traditional rock salt.

Regarding its popularity with sheep, the spokesman added: “The majority of the roads we grit around the county are more heavily used main routes that sheep would not have access to anyway, so we don’t envisage this causing much of a problem.”