Drivers are facing tailbacks as fuel spillage closed one lane of the main A38 near Burton.

One lane of the northbound section of the A38 Branston and Clay Mills is currently closed after a lorry hit a broken manhole cover near Branston, which punctured the fuel tank and caused a diesel spillage.

It is one of three incidents on this section of the dual carriageway between the Branston interchange and Clay Mills within 30 minutes of each other today, Tuesday, February 13.

One lane of the northbound section of the A38 Branston and Clay Mills is currently closed after a lorry hit a broken manhole

The first incident happened shortly before 6am when a white Renault master van crashed, leaving the road. No-one was injured and the van was recovered by 7.40am.

The second accident was reported at 6.22am and happened while police had coned off one lane of the route to deal with the first incident. This crash involved three vehicles.

Again no-one was injured and all three vehicles were able to drive away.

A police spokesman said they then received a call from a lorry driver around the same time to say that his fuel tank had been damaged due to a broken manhole cover, leading to fuel being spilled out on to the road.

Highways England is now carrying out emergency repairs on the A38 and has been clearing up the fuel spill on the road since this morning, with the road set to remained "closed for some time".

The incident caused a diesel spillage

The latest incidents come as Burton MP Andrew Griffiths has called for safety improvements on the A38 around Burton. He wants speed limit of 60mph between Barton under Needwood and the Branston Intercharge to be extended along the road towards Claymills.

He hopes that this will reduce the number of accidents between Branston and Claymills and make the road safer for drivers.

The MP said: "I have long been a campaigner for greater safety measures on the A38. Only last week I wrote to the chief inspector in Burton to ask him to increase patrols and surveillance on this stretch of the A38 near Branston. This kind of multiple accident only goes to compound why that is so important.

"All the evidence demonstrates that where they have reduced the speed to 60mph it has led to a decrease in accidents. I would commend that the 60mph section is extended further to protect against dangerous collisions."

Highways England has been Tweeting about the spillage telling driver to allow extra time for their journeys.