A CREAM firm is to be asked to pay a council's cleaning bill after 150 gallons of cream spilled on to a main road.

The incident happened on Tuesday evening on the A171 Teesside to Whitby road.

An Associated Co-operative Creameries lorry travelling from Whitby to Stockton spilled its cargo along a two- mile stretch of the road, between the Woodhouse roundabout in Guisborough and Swans Corner roundabout, in Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough.

The westbound carriageway was closed and one lane of the dual carriageway has now been reopened.

But it has been a sour incident for Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, which has been forced to launch a huge clean-up operation.

When high pressure hoses, gritters and road sweepers failed to remove the cream completely, industrial-strength cleaners were brought in.

It is turning out to be a slow process and the road is expected to remain closed until at least Monday lunchtime.

Now, Redcar and Cleveland Council plans to recover its costs and ask the creamery to foot the bill, which is expected to run into thousands of pounds for labour alone.

A spokesman for the council said: "We have four units working in convoy. The first machine wets the road, then a thick layer of detergent is put on, then that is turbo sprayed off and then we have got someone to take the water off and sweep the carriageway.

"The workforce is putting in a first class effort. It is a very difficult and time- consuming job because conditions on the road that hasn't been treated are like an ice rink, and the cream has got right into the surface of the road."

A spokesman for Associated Co-Operative Creameries said the question of who would pay for the work was a matter for the company's insurers, who had been informed about the accident