A POTENTIALLY serious accident was averted today by a lorry driver who detected the smell of chemical vapour escaping from drums in his vehicle.

The lorry was carrying 20 drums filled with 200 litres of Xylene, a pungent chemical used in permanent marker pens.

Eight fire appliances were called to incident which happened this morning on the road leading to the Barton industrial estate in Canterbury.

Station Commander at Canterbury Fire and Rescue Rupert Roberts said: “The chemical is narcotic. One drum had ballooned and another was leaking. We had to open the lorry to allow a small amount of material to leak out and disperse into the wind.”

No one was harmed by the leakage, which was then dealt with by chemical company, Orange Chemicals.

Station Commander Roberts stressed: “There was no public safety hazard although we did have to close the road for a while.”