Emergency services deal with chemical incident in Leek

Police are encouraging members of the public to avoid Abbotts Road in Leek whilst they work with partners to make an address safe.

Local patrols are working with colleagues from fire, ambulance and the military to make a property safe on Abbotts Road due to information indicating it could contain potentially unsafe chemicals.

Officers were called to an address on the road at around 7am to reports of a man in need of urgent medical attention. The man, aged in his 40s, was found to be covered in an unknown substance and so colleagues from West Midlands Ambulance Service and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service attended to provide specialist support to the individual and to ensure the substance was no risk to members of the public.

The man was taken to hospital and remains there in a stable condition.

Following further investigation, it is believed that a property on Abbotts Road could contain a mixture of unsafe chemicals. To ensure the safety of the local community, colleagues from the British Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team have been called in to complete a specialist search of the address.

In the interest of safety and to facilitate the ongoing operation, police are introducing road closures on Novi Lane and its junctions with Windsor Drive and Milner Terrace, and Abbotts Road from the junction with Westminster Road to the junction with The Crescent. Limited evacuations of nearby properties are also taking place.

Police have increased the numbers of officers and PCSOs from the Staffordshire Moorlands Local Policing Team in the area to provide reassurance.

Superintendent Victoria Downing, from Staffordshire Police, wanted to reassure members of the public concerned about the ongoing incident: “With support from our partners, we have the right expertise to ensure the safety of the public and make the property safe. Evacuations and road closures are being introduced as a precaution, but we hope that any disruption will only be for a short time. This is an isolated incident and we do not believe there is any risk to the wider public.”