Fire engines at the scene. Picture: James Woodcock

by John Saunders and James Woodcock

A busy access road onto Gillingham business park has been closed after a lorry shed part of its load which is believed to be chemicals.

Police had to close the road past the Honourable Pilot pub, linking the estate with the A2 at Will Adams Way after bitumen and sealants crashed onto the road.

Council highways experts were called to the scene but it was expected the road would remain closed for some hours.

First on the scene were two machines from Kent Fire and Rescue after an emergency call suggested it might be a liquid chemical spill.

The tins were thought to have shifted off palettes and fell through the nearside of the lorry as it drove round the B&Q roundabout.

A police spokesman confirmed: "The load is not toxic."

No one was injured.