THE centre of Wimborne was evacuated yesterday afternoon(August 25) as emergency services set about containing a dangerous chemical spillage.

Shops were closed while shoppers and tourists were sent away as The Square, the High Street and the Minster Green were cordoned off and traffic chaos built up on the edge of the town.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus retrieved a container leaking hydrocarbon liquid which was intended to be delivered to a landscape gardening firm above a shoe shop in the High Street.

Station officer Tim Spring from Dorset Fire and Rescue said: "The chemical information we had led us to believe it was hazardous enough to close the high street over 100 metres and evacuate the area of non-essential personnel."

The fire service had made the area safe for the public and the container would be handed over to the local authority or a specialist firm for disposal, he added.

Ferndown-based Insp Peter Holland said the police had been called in to assist the fire brigade following the spillage of four litres of "highly flammable chemical weed killer which is potentially dangerous to the public".

"Traffic problems are inevitable in this situation and I apologise for the inconvenience, but public safety is paramount," he said.

The spillage was diluted down to safe levels to be washed down the drains following advice from The Environment Agency who also attended the incident.

First published: August 26