FIRE crews and ambulance services from across Lancashire were put on red alert after a chemical box was found on the side of the road.
A specialist environmental detection team from Burnley and Accrington ambulance was sent to make the scene in Blackburn Road, Whittle-le-Woods, safe at 1.25am today.
The box, which was discovered by a policeman, was treated as contaminated and was removed by two officers in chemical protection suits.
It is believed to have fallen off a lorry from Kent and contained dye for red paint.
Leading firefighter Paddy O'Shanessy said the warning label showed the box contained "toxic and irritable "materials although there was no danger.
"We called a specialist chemist for advice and it turned out to be dye for red road paint" he said.
An area around the box was cordoned off by police. Fire crews from Bamber Bridge, an incident support unit from Chorley and Preston's chemical incident unit were also mobilised.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article