Explosion threat in Essington road crash

A CRASH involving highly volatile chemicals in Staffordshire today shut a busy road, forced homes to be evacuated and put the M6 at risk of closure amid fears of an explosion.

The drama unfolded at around 7.30am when a van carrying cylinders of oxycetylene, oxygen and argon collided with a 44-ton Home Bargains lorry in Essington.

Residents living on the A462 Bursnips Road were woken by police and firefighters as a 200m exclusion zone was set up after the crash near The Old Mitre pub.

At least five homes had to be evacuated while a specialist chemicals team raced to the scene. Officers were considering extending the exclusion zone to 250m, which would mean closing part of the M6. The A462 could be shut for up to 12 hours.

The collision ripped the van, travelling towards Cannock, into two pieces and left the HGV, which had been heading toward Wolverhampton, severely damaged. Fears of an explosion emerged as one of the cylinders in the van was found to be unstable.

Pc Ian Hubbard said at the scene: "If the cylinder explodes it will destroy half of the immediate location. It would create a large crater, like a bomb going off."

Both male drivers escaped serious injury but one was taken to New Cross Hospital with cuts and bruises.

Councillor David Clifft said: "It's a very serious incident. We are just concerned about people's safety."

By Shaun Lintern