M6 reopens after 32,000 litres of gin spilled on carriageway

5 September 2019, 14:56

Drivers were left queuing for three miles after a lorry crashed and spilt its precious cargo of gin all over the road yesterday afternoon.

The "gincident" left more than 32,000 litres of the spirit leaking onto the M6 following, shutting down the motorway in Cheshire between junction 19 at Knutsford and junction 20 at Lymm.

The motorway has since reopened.

Two lorries were reported to have crashed at around 5.30pm, but no injuries have been reported.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue service said they were "working hard to stem the leak" and were trying to pump what was left of the gin into a replacement tanker.

They also pumped foam onto the flammable liquid to stop it from igniting on the road.

A 300m cordon was also put in place as a "precautionary measure".

Thankfully, some of the motorists seemed to see the funny side of the debacle, with one joking she was disappointed she hadn't brought a straw to help with clean-up duties.

Rachel Sargeant said she was sat 200 yards away from the spillage for more than two hours in the incident.

She said: "Been sat on the m6 for two hours so far . 200 yards away from 32,000 litres of spilt gin! Heartbreaking that I don’t have a straw.'

Another man asked if those caught up in the delays had been caught up in the "sloe lane."

Others seemed to have little sympathy for anyone caught in the debacle, with another saying drivers just had to "gin and bear it."