A CHEMICAL leak on a town centre road came close to bringing disaster, the emergency services admitted yesterday.

Firefighters said that, had it been raining when the acid spilled on to the A182, through Washington, a deadly cloud of hydro-chloric gas would have been sent into the atmosphere.

Crews could have faced evacuating the town centre to prevent disaster.

As it was, firefighters spent about six hours sealing off the northbound carriageway, then containing and neutralising the leak with lime and sand.

The midday drama unfolded when a van, carrying four 90-gallon barrels of industrial chemical titanium oxy-dichloride, came round a tight corner on a slip-road near The Galleries shopping centre.

A quick-thinking motorist travelling behind the small lorry spotted the leak and called the fire brigade.

The van driver was taken to hospital as a precaution but was released last night.

Alan Young, of the Environment Agency, said the lime solution neutralised the chemical instantly