Caramel clogs up crucial city artery

Oct 11 2007 by Caroline Innes, Liverpool Daily Post

TRAFFIC was brought to a standstill after a lorryload of caramel spilled the entire length of the Kingsway tunnel yesterday.

Powdered toffee poured out along the carriageway after the driver of the HGV carrying the load smashed into a tunnel wall.

The accident caused a major environmental alert, and an extensive clean-up operation was mounted when fears were raised the powder would solidify if it got into the tunnel drains.

Tunnels police said the container carrying the powder hit a wall as he entered the tunnel on the Liverpool side.

But the driver did not realise the sticky substance was leaking until he had travelled the length of the tunnel to Wallasey.

The spillage happened at 10.45am but caused congestion throughout the day as the clean-up operation continued.

Many motorists who tuned into local radio stations for traffic updates were left bemused at reports the jams they were stuck in were caused by a caramel spillage in the tunnel.

A tunnel police spokesman said: “An HGV carrying powdered caramel hit the wall as it entered the Kingsway tunnel at Liverpool.

“The driver, a private contractor, said he did not think that the container had been damaged and travelled the length of the tunnel all the way to Wallasey carpeting it with caramel.

“This became quite a serious environmental issue as we were concerned that once the powder entered the tunnel’s drains it would solidify and block them.

“We had to get it cleaned up pretty quickly and traffic was disrupted all day after we were forced to close lanes.

“We also had a minor road traffic collision in the tunnel which further exacerbated the congestion.

“It was quite a strange incident and we did have a number of motorists asking us whether they had heard correctly when we explained there was a caramel spillage.

“And there were a few disappointed faces when they realised it was powder and they couldn’t lick it.”

The name of the company operating the lorry was not released, but police revealed they are now considering whether to prosecute the private contractor in relation to the incident.

carolineinnes