Emergency crews wearing gas protection suits were called to tackle an overheating container at a chemical factory.

Firefighters closed the road outside the Lucite International plant in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, as a precautionary measure while they dealt with the incident.

The emergency services were called in the early hours of yesterday (weds) morning when staff at the site noticed a drum was expanding. The single 200kg drum which sparked the alarm contained acrylic resin, a non-hazardous product.

Fire crews from Newton Aycliffe and Durham attended the scene and cleared the immediate area.

Those involved in the operation donned protective suits as a precaution while the drum was cooled and made safe.

A spokesman for the factory, on Horndale Avenue, Newton Aycliffe Industrial Estate, said there had not been a leak and nobody had been in any danger.

He said: "In line with the procedures on the site we called the emergency services, who briefly closed the road outside the site purely as a precaution.

"Plant personnel, in conjunction with the emergency services, cooled the drum down and that was it basically.

"Safety is obviously the top priority on that particular site and they took the correct actions. There was no danger at any stage to people on or off the site."

Dave Turnbull, press and publicity officer for County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Brigade, said the emergency special services team were on site for about three hours.

He added: "These incidents are always treated as the worst case scenario because you just don't know what you're going to find.

"It's always best to be prepared because of the potential risks involved, even if it might turn out at a later stage to be innocuous."