THE return of winter to Ayrshire sees treacherous conditions on the roads and a slightly more nervous drive to work or the shops. 

However, it also means that the region's fleet of gritters, accompanied by their hilarious names, are back out on our roads. 

Last winter, Amey South-West Trunk Roads ran its popular gritter-naming appeal that led to over 6,000 gritter names being submitted by the Scottish public.

The newly named gritters in 2023 included Taylor Drift, Kevin Fridges, Stone Cold Steve Frostin and Skate Bush.

They joined other classics such as Sir Grits Hoy, Yes Sir, Ice Can Boogie, Skid Vicious, and Sweet Child O’ Brine.  

All of the region's gritters can be viewed in real time on Traffic Scotland's gritter tracker, which can be found online.

So far this winter on Ayrshire's roads, we've spotted Tam O'Salter, Salt Disney, Troon Raker, Icesweeper Willie and Sleeter Andre as well as those mentioned above.