Milk lorry accident closes A49

Shropshire's A49 was closed in both directions after a milk lorry shed its load, causing lengthy tailbacks for motorists.

The lorry, which was carrying more than 800 bottles of milk, lost part of its load at Marshbrook, near Church Stretton, at about 11.20am today.

The road was closed in both directions and traffic diverted while fire and police officers attended the scene. It is understood that very little of the milk entered water courses.

Danielle Woodhouse, who works at the Station Inn in the village, said: "We know there has been an accident involving a lorry and the road has been closed either side of it.

"Traffic has been diverted along the road for Bishop's Castle and Newtown which passes our pub.

"We've heard various bits from our customers but there have been lots of queues on the road."

A spokesperson for Shropshire Fire and Rescue said: "Initial reports suggested there had been a crash involving a milk tanker at Marshbrook. But it turns out it was a lorry carrying milk bottles and very little of the milk has entered the water course."

The spokesperson added a rescue pump, two water ladders, an environment pod and incident commander attended the scene.