Experts who carried out tests on the contents of a lorry trailer found abandoned beside a busy north Shropshire road today said they are dealing with suspected hazardous chemicals.

Environment Agency investigators took the lorry, which contained as many as 200 45-litre barrels of unknown chemicals, from a lay-by on the A53 at Hodnet to a specialist testing centre in Walsall following the discovery two weeks ago.

Now it has emerged one of the first barrels to be removed from the lorry by officials wearing protective suits contained hundreds of small glass phials of unknown chemicals.

Emily Poyser, from the Environment Agency, said: “I went along to the first day of our investigation and two drums were taken off the lorry with the first containing glass phials.

“There’s at least 150 more drums on there and we suspect they contain hazardous chemicals but it’s going to take a few more days to work through them as we have to go slowly for safety reasons.

“The drums were so badly packed in there it was really hard to remove them but we still cannot say precisely what the chemicals are.”

The Tesco trailer no longer belonged to the company, as the company had sold it on. Investigators are now trying to trace the last registered owners.

The discovery sparked a full-scale chemical alert which led to the road being closed.

Anyone with information about the lorry, which could have been dumped two weeks before being discovered, can call the Environment Agency free on 0800 807060.