An Abbey Logistics tanker which plunged into a canal near Middlewich last Thursday (8 May), trapping the uninjured driver in the cab, saw the waterway and the A533 closed to traffic, as a major operation was launched to rescue the driver and retrieve the vehicle.
Cheshire Police said that the incident, which happened at 7.15am, close to the Middlewich depot of Tata Chemical’s subsidiary British Salt, was the result of a collision which led to the tanker entering the Trent and Mersey Canal.
The tanker remained upright in the water and the driver, who was uninjured, was rescued by fire fighters using an inflatable raft. There were no arrests made.
A Canal and River Trust (C&RT) spokesman said that the Trust and the Environment Agency (EA) worked together with the fire service and Abbey Logistics to recover the HGV tanker from the canal.
Cheshire Police were also in attendance. A Cheshire Police spokesman said: “Shortly after 7am on Thursday, May 8, police were called to reports of a collision on Booth Lane, Middlewich.
“Officers attended the scene and found an HGV had fallen into the canal,” adding that no arrests were made.
A spokesman for Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service said firefighters liased the Canal and Rivers Trust, Environment Agency, and Cheshire Police to “to support the safe removal of the HGV from the water.”
Abbey Logistics declined to comment on the incident.
