AN overturned lorry caused disruption for thousands of motorists yesterday after spilling its load of chemicals on the carriageway.

The road was closed shortly after 6.30am, when the lorry collided with barriers and its cargo spewed across the road at the Burtree interchange north-west of Darlington.

The light goods vehicle had crossed from the northbound onto the southbound carriageway and ended up on its side underneath the A68 underpass. The driver was not hurt.

Motorists heading in both directions were diverted onto the sliproads at junction 58, over the A68, causing tailbacks half a mile long.

The road was closed until 6.30pm because firefighters at the scene had to establish what the chemicals were and how best to clean them from the road.

It is thought the 3,000 litres of chemicals were heading for a Sunderland-based printers.

The lorry and its other contents, which included a delivery of nuts and bolts, had to be righted and recovered from the scene.

About 40metres of barriers separating the two carriageways had to be replaced by the Highways Agency before the road was allowed to be reopened.

As chemicals were involved, firefighters in breathing apparatus conducted a survey of the wreckage before the clean-up could begin.

Firefighter Dave Turnbull, who was at the scene, said: “Fortunately, it happened underneath the junction so we were able to redirect vehicles off at the slip roads and down on the other side.”

At about 2.30pm a team of specialist cleaners, working on behalf of Durham County Council, arrived to remove all the debris from the scene and clean the chemicals from the road surface.

The Environment Agency were also present during the operation, to ensure the chemicals did not leak into local rivers.

The southbound carriageway of the A1 reopened at about 6.30pm and the northbound was due to open by 8pm.

Inspector Malcolm Smart, of Durham Police, said: “We worked in conjunction with the Highways Agency and worked very well at dealing with the problem although there were a few delays just due to the volume of traffic.

“One of the benefits was that the accident took place just right by the bridge, so we didn’t have to put up any diversions.”