Part of a main road near Shrewsbury was closed for more than two hours after a 25 litre plastic drum was discovered leaking an unknown liquid on to the highway.

The liquid, which is believed to have been harmless, initially caused concern as it was in a drum marked “corrosive”.

The incident happened at about 11.38am yesterday at the junction of the A5 and A488 on the outskirts of town. An area of the road was shut and was not reopened until 2pm.

A spokeswoman for Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said two engines from Shrewsbury Fire Station and the Incident Commander attended the scene.

She said: “Crews were in attendance on the A5 following reports of a 25 litre plastic drum leaking unknown liquid.

“This liquid is now believed to be harmless but the Environment Agency has been informed. This incident was handed over to the police and Amey Mouchel.”

Maria Hawkaluk, spokeswoman for West Mercia Police, said: “We were called to the junction of the A5 and A488 after reports of a drum leaking fluid.

“The barrel was removed and the road cleared and reopened by 2pm.”

Nathan Wallis, spokesman for the Highways Agency, said they had also attended the incident.

He said: “A barrel was found on the A5 near the A488 which was marked corrosive. The fire service closed the road as a precaution and sprayed the surface.

“One of our incident support vans went to the scene to remove the barrel and the road was reopened.”

The Environment Agency said it was aware of the incident but did not have to attend the scene.