TRAFFIC ground to a halt in Dalton after highly flammable substance leaked onto the road. 

The junction to Market Street was closed yesterday afternoon after a large lorry became stuck on the hill.

As the driver approached the junction, the lorry's large trailer hit the sign and scraped its side along the wall, which burst the hydraulic pipe causing fluid to spill across the road.

Police were at the scene to re-direct traffic while the Highways Agency clean up the spillage. 

The road was due to be closed for a number of hours.

A Cumbria County Council spokesperson said yesterday: "We've got a highways team at the site and they're waiting for the lorry to be removed. 

"There's a lot of hydraulic fluid coming out of the lorry so once it has been removed we will be cleaning the affected bit of road.

"It's likely to reopen in the next few hours. 

"We're also trying to make sure it doesn't run into the drains in the mean time."

Kit Bibby, a Dalton resident, believes more should be done to help alleviate traffic coming through the town.

He said: "It looks as though he's hit the wall and it's burst the pipe.

"There's too much traffic coming through Dalton - it needs to have a one-way system.

"It's happened in Ulverston and Kendal so why not here?"