M5 closed by fuel spill after tanker crash
A section of the M5 has been closed after a fuel tanker jackknifed, causing a significant diesel spillage.
The southbound carriageway has been shut between junction 22 for Burnham-on-Sea and junction 23 for Bridgwater in Somerset after the crash at about 04:30 BST.
The lorry hit the central reservation, travelled across the three lanes and ended up on the hard shoulder, causing damage to the barrier. A car then hit the side of the tanker.
National Highways said no-one was injured, but added there are delays of about two-and-a-half hours. It is not expecting the lanes to reopen until about 14:00.
The fuel spilt on the motorway came from the HGV's engine, not the petrol it was carrying.
Clarke Hobbs, operations manager in the control room at National Highways, told BBC Radio Somerset: "Unfortunately the petrol tanker was fully loaded, which means there were 32,000 litres of petrol on board.
"That needs to be pumped out into a second tanker before the recovery takes place so at the moment the motorway is still closed with significant delays in the area."
The pumping is expected to take about two hours. Once the tanker is removed, the motorway will be inspected ahead of reopening.
"Realistically, we're looking into this afternoon before we're going to be able to get lanes back open," Hobbs said.
The motorway closure is causing heavy congestion along the diversion route on the A38 southbound near East Brent to near Dunball where it joins the A39 just before junction 23 of the M5.
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