Lorry spills 500 litres of fuel on Dudley road

Fire crews were forced to close Oak Street, off the busy Quarry Bank High Street, in order to contain the spill after 500 litres leaked out of the vehicle yesterday afternoon.

The lorry was reversing out of the road back onto the high street but the driver mistakenly ran over a bollard.

The bollard ripped open the vehicle's fuel tank underneath immediately allowing hundreds of litres of diesel to flow into the road.

Firefighters from Brierley Hill were sent to the the scene following the spillage which happened at around 12.45pm.

They used grit to begin soaking up the fuel and trying to save it from flowing down drains lining the street.

However, some fuel did escape down the drains forcing highways engineers from Dudley Council to be called to started pumping them out. The Environment Agency were also alerted.

Watch commander Mick Clark, from Brierley Hill fire station, said: "We were lucky that we were able to contain the spill and stop it flowing into the high street.

"If it had gone onto the high street, especially considering how busy it is, there would have been a lot of delays but thankfully we were able to keep the traffic flowing."

He added the situation could have been worse if it was petrol as that is more likely to ignite.

Businesses in Oak Street were disrupted while the section of road was blocked to allow for the clean-up.

Fire crews left around 2.30pm and the incident was left in the hands of Dudley Council.

One shop worker, who would not be named, said: "It caused quite a scraping sound when it happened and you could see the fuel coming out of the bottom."