A main trunk road in Moray was turned into a farmyard scene for almost four hours yesterday after a lorry shed its load.
The vehicle owned by Baille Brothers Ltd haulage contractors was travelling east towards Fochabers on the A96 Inverness to Aberdeen road, when it spilled a mass of dirt and rubble at the roundabout outside Baxters factory.
A member of the public made police aware of the debris strewn across the roundabout approach shortly before 11am, which onlookers described as being more than a foot deep in places.
The lorry suffered a trailer malfunction which left a trail of 66yds of mud, stones and small boulders in its wake.
Traffic was inhibited by a partial closure to the road as police officers worked to clear the scene with the assistance of BEAR Scotland and a local digger team for more than three hours.
The lorry was escorted from the scene shortly before 2pm and the clean-up process was completed shortly afterwards – with traffic flowing freely again by 2.40pm.
A police spokeswoman said: “At 10:46am, we received a call from a member of the public regarding debris from a vehicle on the A96 outside Baxters in Fochabers.
“A lot of mud on the road. We had a unit attend, and the A96 was still open at 11.10am.
“Officers on hand reported a substantial amount of mud dropped from the vehicle.
“Mud, stones and small boulders on a fair stretch of the road.
“The lorry driver tried his best to tidy up the road, and BEAR Scotland were called in to clean the road.
“At 2.40pm, the road had been swept and traffic was flowing freely.
“The vehicle was moved on just prior to 2pm.”
A BEAR Scotland spokeswoman said: “Police Scotland attended the site immediately after the incident and arranged for an excavator and sweeper to clear the road of debris.
“We worked alongside the police to control traffic, but we were only on-site for a short time as the road was quickly cleared.”