A tractor passing through the Audlem ward is believed to have shed hydraulic fluid along the road surface on Longhill Lane, prompting a highways crew to close the lower stretch and sand the carriageway after brake testing found dangerous conditions.
The incident was first logged at 4:23 pm today, with a resident reporting that a large tractor had driven past Tree Tops Cottage some hours earlier and appeared to have deposited diesel or hydraulic fluid across the road surface.
By early evening, a local highways agency crew attending the scene on Longhill Lane had assessed the situation and closed the bottom half of the road. The Ruralist News spoke with the crew at around 7:30 pm.
Photographs taken by the crew at the scene showed the fluid had not pooled but instead left a continuous streak tracked along the lane in the path of the vehicle. The crew member confirmed there were no puddles, only a single streak of fluid on the road and that none had seeped into the drainage system.
"We brake-tested the stretch of road and found it slippery and too dangerous to drive on. We've applied sand to the area as a precaution."
The crew confirmed they were awaiting a second team to arrive and remove the sand and residual fluid from the carriageway.