A76 road closed after lorry crash spills glue

By BOB GEDDES and ADRIAN HEARN
Published on 23/02/2013 00:00

GLUE several inches thick closed a major road for most of yesterday after a lorry spilled its
19-tonne load in a crash close to a fuel station.

The incident shut the A76 Kilmarnock-Dumfries at Sanquhar for more than 12 hours.

A container carrying 15,000 litres of glue burst when the lorry jackknifed at 5:30am and spilled the sticky contents on to a filling station forecourt.

The driver was injured in the incident. Emergency crews spent several hours putting down grit to clear the road.

Dumfries and Galloway Police said a report would be sent to the procurator-fiscal.

A police spokesman said: “The glue container on the lorry has burst and glue-spilling is affecting the road surface. Diversions are being put in place, however motorists are asked to avoid the area if possible.”

Motorists travelling between Cumnock and Thornhill were diverted on a 50-mile route northbound via the A702 and A70, and a similar route southbound via the A70.

A resident, Lawrie Roberts, said he had been awakened by a loud noise and looked out to see his car covered in glue.

He said: “I just heard a bang and saw this liquid about six inches thick heading towards the front of the house.

“It came right up to the front doorstep and the car was covered in it. I don’t know how we’ll get it cleaned.”

Anne Williamson, who runs the filling station with her husband, William, said: “It doesn’t bear thinking about what would have happened if he [the lorry driver] had hit the pumps. It would have been a disaster.

“They are trying to clean up the road with grit at first, but how they’ll get rid of the glue, we don’t know.”

“It’s a bit messy. They are trying to recover the lorry, but there are thousands of litres of liquid glue near the main road and on the forecourt.

“At one point, there were 20 people out there trying to sort the mess out. We’ve been told we have to clean up the mess ourselves.”

Firefighters from Thornhill and Sanquhar were called and road workers were brought in to stop the glue spreading.

Schoolchildren were able to get to Sanquhar Academy and primary school by taking
detours.

Last June, 1,500 litres of milk spilled on the M8 after a lorry and van collided in West
Lothian. The mess was cleared up by firefighters using absorbent granules in a four-hour
operation.

In 2007, a lorry carrying 1,800 chickens crashed on the A80, leaving birds running loose on the road.

The incident near Haggs left about 400 chickens dead. The birds were being transferred from a farm in Perthshire to an abattoir in Lincolnshire.

It took police and specialist chicken handlers nearly nine hours to clear the scene.