Highways crews work round the clock following two vehicle fires

Highways works Priory Road

Highways crews in Staffordshire have worked round the clock to repair two major roads damaged by two separate vehicle fires.

The first fire, on the A460 Cannock Road in Featherstone on Thursday September 10 resulted in a full road closure.

Highways crews assisted with diversions throughout the day, and once the remains of the HGV were removed and the surface cleaned, crews arrived early Friday morning to plane out the damaged carriageway.

The road was up and open again ahead of the Friday evening rush hour.

Just four days later, another HGV fire, this time on the A34 Cannock Road in Bednall, happened in the early hours of September 14. 

Crews once again attended site to assist with the road closure and assess the damage. 

Once the vehicle was taken away, contractors arrived on site in the early evening and started works to plane out the damaged section of carriageway. 

The road was quickly resurfaced and relined, and was able to reopen later that evening.

Peter Mason, Staffordshire County Council Cabinet Member for Strategic Highways said: 

“Having two large vehicle fires in such a short space of time is unprecedented, and I'm relieved to hear no one was hurt in either incident.

“Obviously closing a major A road will lead to some disruption, and as soon as the incidents were dealt with, our aim in both cases was to get the roads open as soon as it was safe to do so. This meant mobilising crews and materials quickly.

“Crews worked incredibly hard to get these roads planed, resurfaced and open as soon as it was safe to do so. I want to thank them for their hard work, and everyone else for their patience while they worked to get these routes open again.”

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