Crying over spilt milk

The vehicle, carrying 25-30,000 litres of the white stuff, overturned at around 11.30am on Monday morning at the Patching junction roundabout, off the A27. It caused long tailbacks as police closed Titnore Lane in Worthing for almost six hours. The driver of the tanker was taken to Worthing Hospital with minor injuries.

Firefighters from Worthing, Shoreham, Littlehampton and Bognor worked quickly to stop the milk spreading to the nearby Patching Pond, where it would have caused an environmental disaster, killing the fish and polluting the local water supply.

They plugged the leak to prevent more liquid spilling onto the road and used hoses to wash the milk down a slip road, where rescue teams had built a temporary dam.

Worthing station commander Peter Martin, who was in charge of the clean-up operation, said: "We have acted quickly to prevent the milk spreading. If it gets into the water system, there could be environmental concerns. It could have killed all the fish in Patching Pond."

Investigators were baffled as to how the tanker had managed to overturn and crash into the roundabout's outer-kerb.

Inspector Mark Trimmer, of the road policing department, said: "It is too early to say how it happened. Investigations are on-going but what I can confirm is that no other vehicle was involved."

A spokesman for Arla Foods UK Plc, which owns the tanker, told the Herald the male driver was able to walk into a waiting ambulance after the accident.

He said: "I have spoken to the driver twice on a mobile phone and he sounds ok, but obviously shaken. He escaped with a few cuts and bruises."

The company sent two additional tankers to the scene to pump the remaining liquid from the stricken vehicle, before it could be moved.

Lucy Harding, press officer for the Environment Agency, said: "Fortunately, none of the milk went into Patching pond, as the fire brigade contained the threat.

"If it had gone in, it would have had a big impact on wildlife."