A road is being resurfaced after 700 litres of diesel oil spilt onto its surface last night.

Firefighters were called to the A350 at Steepleton bends near Stourpaine at around 7pm last night (Wednesday, December 20). 

The A350 was closed in both directions in order to be gritted with sand by the local authority.

The contaminated road surface has now been removed and the road is being resurfaced. It is hoped the road will be re-opened this evening.

A spokesperson for Dorset Council said: "We have removed the contaminated road surface and we are resurfacing the road this afternoon. We hope to be able to reopen the road this evening and will update you when we do this.

"The road traffic collision, between a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) and car, caused the HGV’s fuel tank to rupture, leaving 700 litres of diesel oil on the road surface. Emergency services, the Environment Agency and our highways team attended the incident last night and the oil was quickly contained.

"However, the oil did cause some damage to the carriageway surface, so we closed the road to enable emergency repairs to get the contaminated surface back to a usable condition.

"We thank our partners for their speedy support and co-operation to contain this incident, and residents and motorists for their patience while we work as quickly as possible to reopen the road."

As of writing, a signed diversion is in place.