THE SOUTHBOUND carriageway of the M5 motorway has now re-opened after being closed for several hours following a large oil spillage.
Around 110 litres of hydraulic fluid was spilt from a heavy goods vehicle yesterday (Wednesday), spreading across all three lanes and covering approximately three miles of the southbound carriageway between Junctions 5 for Droitwich and Junction 6 for Worcester.
A hydroblaster – specialist high pressure waterblast equipment – was used to clear the liquid, allowing the carriageway to be reopened without the need for resurfacing, which would have meant a longer closure.
Planned overnight closures due to take place between 10pm and 6am on this stretch of the M5 have been cancelled to allow the carriageway to reopen as quickly as was safely possible. It reopened at 12.50am.
Highways England operations manager Simon Foxall said: “Safety is our top priority, and we could not reopen the carriageway until it was completely safe for road users.
“We worked as hard as we could with our contractors to reopen the carriageway as quickly as possible, and we thank drivers for their patience.”
