Fears of chlorine gas after acid spill (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Fears of chlorine gas after acid spill

THOUSANDS of litres of hydrochloric acid escaped from a tank in Broadway Lane in South Cerney yesterday (Wednesday).

Firefighters were on standby and police cordoned off the area after 6,000 litres of acid leaked into the ground.

Residents and schoolchildren were forced to stay indoors and keep windows firmly shut and neighbouring businesses were evacuated.

The incident happened at Lafarge Roofing after a break-in sometime over the bank holiday weekend.

Vandals are thought to have driven a forklift truck around the factory and cut a pipe which supplied the dangerous chemicals.

The factory makes concrete tiles which need to be washed in hydrochloric acid as part of the manufacturing process.

Lafarge spokesman Kevin Williams said: "No one hurt on site, but as a precaution the police and fire brigade decided to temporarily shut the road outside the factory.

"The leak has been stopped and there is no evidence of the acid getting into the water courses.

"The acid was at 36 percent so we have to be very careful - we isolated the area and made sure nobody approached the factory."

Mr Williams assured concerned residents the incident was under control and Environment Agency experts were carrying out tests as the Standard went to press in order to access the damage.

Alistair Lucking, of Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Some of the acid has seeped into the ground and we were called in an advisory capacity."

He described how the acid is thought to have caused a vapour cloud to rise above the factory "making people feel uncomfortable".

Steve Richardson, headteacher of Ann Edwards School, said precautions were being taken to keep pupils safe.

He said: "We have spoken to Environmental Health and the managing director of Lafarge and they have advised us to keep the children indoors at breaktime and at lunchtime until we hear anything further. We have had a couple of parents come in and take their children out and there are rumours about evacuations."

Dr Simon Pickering, of the Cotswold Water Park Society, said the spillage could pose a risk to the surrounding wildlife and lakes, while the soils in South Cerney are very alkaline and could react with the acid to produce chlorine gas.

As the Standard went to press Gloucestershire police had arrested two men and a woman on suspicion of burglary in connection with the incident at the factory.