THE main road between Lydney and Chepstow partially re-opened early yesterday morning (Tuesday, December 19) after emergency resurfacing.

A Gloucestershire Highways team worked through the night in heavy rain to replace the surface on the A48 at Tidenham, after a tanker carrying liquid sugar hit the railway bridge and spilt its load near the former National Diving Centre on Friday afternoon (December 16).

The lorry ended up in a field and there were no other vehicles involved in the incident.

The spill caused a gloop to cover both sides of the carriageway for some distance which forced the closure of the busy road to traffic from Friday afternoon, forcing commuters to find alternative routes home.

Gloucestershire Highways chiefs said it was “extremely difficult” to remove the substance.

The road re-opened with a single carriageway in operation at 5am on Tuesday.

The restriction was to allow further inspection of the former railway which now carries the Wye Valley Greenway cycle path.

In a statement on social media, Gloucestershire County Council said:  “We’re pleased to advise that the overnight repair works on the A48 have gone as planned and the road will now be able to reopen to single lane traffic. 

“The reason we are down to one lane is to make the Network Rail bridge safe.”

There was frustration in the area as lanes linking the A48 with the B4228 St Briavels to Chepstow road became clogged with traffic.

There were also reports of journeys of a couple of miles taking up to two hours to complete.

The incident also had a knock-on effect on the planned roadworks at Alvington.

Initially the county council said the works – which involve 7pm-7am closures of the road between Swan Hill and Knapp Lane – would be extended by one night.

The closures have now been extended until tomorrow (Thursday) and the county council has apologised for any inconvenience caused.