True grit

As I was skidding and tip-toeing along the pavement on my way home the other night, while cars sped past me on the road, Iike Dennis Forbes Grattan (Letters, 3 February), I also wondered why gritting seems to stop at the kerb and pedestrians are left to fend for themselves.

However, upon reaching my own street, which was also treacherously slippery, it did occur to me that residents could do their bit by at least chucking some salt or grit on the section of pavement outside their own houses.

I heard a couple of residents warning others to take care, and was even warned of the danger by my postman the other morning, who has to negotiate our streets every day at risk of injury.

If the council won’t, or can’t afford to, grit pavements in residential areas, no-one else is going to come along and do it for us.

So perhaps we could take a little time out of our busy lives to make our local pavements safe for all.

Kathryn Sharp

Edinburgh