Tram vehicle fuel spill causes traffic chaos

A fuel spill that snarled traffic during the Monday morning rush hour was caused by a tram maintenance vehicle, it has emerged.

Traffic near Haymarket was brought to a standstill. Picture: John Devlin

Streets in the west end were closed for several hours and public transport services disrupted, causing tailbacks of frustrated commuters.

Traffic around Haymarket was brought to a standstill by the incident, which saw tram and bus services suspended or diverted to avoid the closure.

West Maitland Street and Morrison Street were both closed westbound. Trams operated between Murrayfield and Edinburgh Airport while the spillage was cleared.

The incident was first reported before 6am, and wasn’t cleared until around 7.20am.