A DORSET road was awash with crabs after a lorry overturned on the A35.

Two tonnes of spider crabs were tipped on to the carriageway when the lorry crashed yesterday morning at 6.12am on the Puddletown bypass on the turning by Troytown.

The east-bound carriageway and lane two of the west-bound carriageway were closed for several hours while emergency services worked.

The lorry driver and passenger were taken to Dorset County Hospital with minor injuries and recovery was arranged for both the seven-and-a-half tonne van and the two tonnes of spider crabs on the road.

Dorset Police were alerted to the incident by a woman on a mobile phone before receiving several other calls from motorists.

Members of the public called the police to report the incident and many tried to slow down other motorists coming along the bypass to try and avoid the crabs.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: “The white Iveco-Ford box van, belonging to a seafood company from Devon overturned on the A35 Puddletown bypass by the turning to Troytown.

“The lorry came to rest on the central reservation barrier with its wheels off the ground and its roof split.

“Its rear end was protruding across the west-bound carriageway.

“The load of crabs had to be cleared from the carriageway. Most of them were dead but there were a number of them on the road.”

The crabs had been travelling in crates in the back of the van, the dead crabs had been stored in crates at the back of the lorry while the live ones in boxes on top spilled out onto the carriageway.

The 54-year-old driver and 53-year-old passenger in the lorry were both from Devon and they were taken to hospital by the ambulance service.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: “The driver had swelling to the left side of her face and had bruises, cuts and gashes to his face head and arms.

“The passenger had cuts to his face and head and had pain in his hand. Their injuries were described as minor.”

He added: “The whole of the carriageway was cleared and opened by 10am.”

• Spider crabs are the Madijae family of 700 species of skinny-legged crabs.

The family contains the largest known arthropod – the Japanese spider crab – which has a leg span of four metres.

Most spider crabs are scavengers of flesh and can be found living in the Atlantic and Pacific areas.

They have bristles on their shells and they normally live for between five to eight years.