A main Hampshire road was shut this after a milk lorry crash.

Part of Bursledon Road has been closed due to the accident yesterday involving a 44 tonne lorry.

As a result of the incident at 3.30am up to 5,000 of bottles of milk were thrown across the road.

Part of the road remains closed after work to clear up 1,000 litres of milk took place.

The Environment Agency is currently investigating whether the spilt milk has had any effect on local water courses.

The vehicle's curtain side gave way as it was driving around the roundabout.

Around half of the lorry's load spilled onto the road. Crates were stacked up on the side of the road for collection.

The accident happened between the A27 Providence Hill and the A3025 Hamble Lane at Windhover Roundabout and the B3033 Botley Road.

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The road is closed between Tesco and the Peugeot car dealership.

One person at the scene described the sight as "like a snowscene" as thousands of litres of milk and smashed bottles covered the road.

The lorry, with its side open, was eventually escorted away by a police car.

Crews from Hampshire County Council are clearing up the road with two large tankers.

One has a long pipe sucking out milk from drains while the other is using brushes underneath it to sweep glass from the kerbsides.

The smell of sour milk hangs in the air while puddles of milk are collecting in the gutters.

Bus companies are also warning of delays of on public transport.

The Bluestar bus firm tweeted: "Possible delays expected to the B*3 along Thornhill Park Road, also with traffic diverting due to the Milk Lorry Crash in Bursledon."

And First Southampton posted: "Services in and around Southampton will be suffering with delays as Bursledon Road is closed due to an incident. Traffic is diverting."

Six crews from Hampshire fire and rescue arrived at 3.38am including teams from Hightown, Redbridge and a specialist unit from Romsey fire station.

They set up an inflatable boom around the spillage to contain the milk and prevent too much of it getting into drains.

Mats were put over the drains and special granules laid on the road to absorb the milk.

A spokesman for the brigade said crews had stepped down at 6.33am when the incident was handed over to the Environment Agency and Highways Agency.

The lorry driver, a man believed to be in his 40s, was unharmed in the incident.

The vehicle was driven to the Dairy Crest depot in Northam where this morning it is being inspected by teams to try and determine what caused the curtain to come open.

The lorry is believed to have been on its way to the depot in the early hours to deliver supplies due to be sent out in the coming days.

Richard O’Callaghan area environment manager for the Environment Agency said the 1,000 litres of milk had been largely captured by the road’s drainage system and a ditch had been pumped out by teams and disposed of.

But he said nearly 30 litres remained in the ditch which is due to be removed by either the Highways Agency or the lorry owners.

Teams conducted searches of land and water courses in the neighbouring areas but have not found any contamination.

He said: "There hasn’t been any wider impact that we have observed and it seems the milk has been contained.”

He explained that the substance is highly polluting due to it “stripping” the water of oxygen and effectively “suffocating” plants and fish.