A web cam placed on the A760 Haylie Brae proved very popular during adverse conditions last week.

The winter weather arrived in earnest last week with high winds, and snow on Wednesday and Thursday, resulting in some traffic disruption.

Motorists who wish to assess their journey before heading out can now view the roadside webcam on the council website at www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/resident/roads-and-travel/a760-roadcam.aspx

A North Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: “The weather station on the A760 at Catburn, between Largs and Kilbirnie, was upgraded in Autumn 2015 and included the installation of a roadside camera.

“This has been very helpful in assisting our winter controllers and supervisors monitor weather conditions and can also prove very useful to members of the public planning journeys along the route in poor weather.”

North Ayrshire Council operate a priority system for gritting paths and footways, these include areas of high pedestrian concentration like shopping areas, access to emergency services and schools.

In periods of severe weather, arrangements are in place to undertake work out with normal working hours.

A council spokesman explained: "We aim to treat as many roads as possible when snow and ice is forecast, although there is a finite amount of money available to carry this out.

"Therefore we operate a priority system for road treatment. This means that the most important roads are treated first.

"These include main roads such as the A760 Largs to Kilbirnie, and the B781 Dalry to West Kilbride roads etc. We also treat main bus routes and other roads carrying our highest volumes of traffic as a priority.

"Although it is impossible to treat all of North Ayrshire’s roads in advance of winter weather, we are committed to tackling snow and ice on our roads.

"After all high priority routes are clear we will treat other access routes and residential areas as resources allow.

"Our remaining roads, including minor rural routes, will then be treated as and when resources allow and when all our other routes are clear."

A winter maintenance service for the A78 is provided separately by the Scottish Government using Scotland TranServ.

* Residents can obtain small quantities of rock salt for private use from locations including: Cleansing Depot, Alexander Avenue, Largs; Community Centre, Corse Street, West Kilbride; Toward View (opposite Fire Station), Skelmorlie; and Car Park, Pier Road, Fairlie. Council ask residents to bring their own containers for the salt.