COMMUTERS making their way home in Newcastle West on Tuesday evening were treated to an unexpected tale of the fishy kind.

Just before the 5pm rush-hour, a lorry heading towards Limerick accidentally dumped its load of fish guts and fish heads on the main N21 at St Mary’s Rd, right outside Minister Patrick O’Donovan’s constituency office.

Thousands of fish heads and offal were splattered across the road, releasing a horrendous smell. Some vehicles drove over the slippery mess, while others swerved and manoeuvred to evade the fishy heap, raising the risk of accidents.

Meanwhile, the local council office was alerted and the local fire brigade swung into action. Two units of the fire brigade arrived to clear the material and clean the road surface and gardai also arrived on the scene to direct traffic.

The clean-up operation took at least half-an-hour but the smell was still lingering this Wednesday morning as people passed by.