Minor fire causes Mersey tunnels delays

Sep 26 2008 Richard Down

FIRECREWS were called to Kingsway tunnel this morning after smoke was spotted coming out of a pump room.

Teams from Wallasey and Liverpool city centre were called to the tunnel at about 9am after a fire detection unit reported a minor fire.

The tunnel was closed in both directions as the firefighters investigated. Commuters had to use the Birkenhead tunnel causing some traffic problems on both sides of the Mersey.

A pump bearing was found to be at fault leading to overheating. This automatically triggered carbon dioxide to quell any possible flames.

The Wallasey to Liverpool route was opened at about 9.40am with other tunnel opened 10 minutes later.