Winter road maintenance in Perthshire and Kinross is to be stepped-up following severe weather in previous years .

In the last three years, two severe winters have wreacked havoc in parts of Perthshire.

Although last year's winter was mild, the council says it will still prepare for the worst weather.

A nightshift of winter maintenance staff will be introduced to cut the number of early morning road treatments needed. Two quad bike drivers will also be used to treat footways.

An extra two ice early warning systems at Craggantoul and Kinloch Rannoch and an additional camera on the A93 at Glenshee will be introduced to enable quicker response times.

Perth and Kinross councillors heard about the preparations at a meeting on Wednesday.

Salt levels were increased last winter to almost 24,000 tonnes, and this will be maintained for the winter of 2012/13.

Councillor John Kellas, convener of the Enterprise and Infrastructure Committee said: "Thankfully last winter was mild compared to the previous two, but we cannot be complacent. The winter maintenance policy has been reviewed and some changes have been made which will improve the service.

"In severe weather events it's important to be realistic about what the Council alone can achieve. We have 2,500km of road network across Perth and Kinross, and thousands of footways. Resources are simply not available to us to keep all roads and pavements clear of snow and ice. With this in mind it is vitally important that we work closely with local communities so that we can help them to help themselves during severe snow and ice."