Response crews spread thin after 'Marmite' crash

Police are appealing for witnesses after a motor caravan and tanker collided on the M1, causing the tanker to spill its load of yeast and resulting in the motorway being closed.

The crash took place at 10.15pm on 28 November when a Ford campervan being driven by a 57-year-old man from Milton Keynes was travelling slowly on the southbound carriageway between junction 33 and 32. A white Renault heavy goods vehicle driven by a 56-year-old man tried to overtake and clipped the van’s wing mirror before losing control, swerving across three lanes, hitting the central reservation and overturning, spilling its load of what turned out to be brewer's waste yeast on both the north and south carriageways.

No major injuries have been reported and South Yorkshire Police are appealing for anyone with any information to come forward by calling 101 – the non-emergency phone number – and quoting incident number 1240 on 28 November.

Called to clear up the mess in the early hours of 29 November, Environment Agency incident controller Colin Atkinson said: "We worked with the fire service and the Highways Agency throughout the night to manage the incident and to limit the impact on the environment.

"Brewers yeast can have a devastating impact on wildlife in watercourses because it strips the water of oxygen, suffocating the fish. Our incident team worked with the Highways Agency to create a bund to contain the yeast. This prevented it from flowing into nearby Ulley Brook and the River Rother which is an important coarse fishery and is used by many anglers.

"Tankers were brought in to take the yeast waste away and our environment officers are checking oxygen levels in the waterways to make sure no pollution has escaped."

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