MOTORISTS faced chaos as fire crews led a major clean up operation after 60 litres of farm chemical spilled onto the road.
Fire crews were sent to the A177 near to Sedgefield after four drums of herbicide used to spray fields fell off a lorry.
Three of the drums burst spilling the farmer’s herbicide onto the road leading to fears it could get into the water system.
Emergency services were sent to the scene near to Sedgefield Golf Club to tackle the problem at 9.31am on August 5.
No-one was hurt but the road was closed as fire crews wearing breathing apparatus surveyed the scene.
They found the chemical to be of a low toxicity and not very harmful to humans and they put the burst drums into a large storage container.
Durham County Council also sent a clean up team and it used sand to soak the loose liquid up.
The Environment Agency sent a team to ensure that the area was clear and the road re-opened around 1pm.
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