A BIN lorry was destroyed after it caught fire on its round in Cricklade.

Three fire crews were called to deal with the blaze on Chelworth Road at 10.25am after a fire developed in the engine and hydraulics compartment yesterday and then engulfed the cab.

Cricklade crew manager Pete Price said when they arrived the Wiltshire Council lorry crew had evacuated and was standing at a safe distance.

Firefighters were at the scene for three and-a-half hours to be sure a fire wasn’t developing in the back of the truck. “We were unable to get in to it to make sure because of the hydraulic and engine failure,” he told the Advertiser.

At the same time it was discovered that a lorry moving between the high street along the same route towards the industrial estate had shed a large amount of diesel fuel on the road.

The Environment Agency was notified because of the risk to the environment and a Wiltshire Council clean-up crew arrived to deal with the spillage.

The bin lorry was later taken to the council’s waste disposal site in Chippenham for safe emptying to check there was no smouldering waste before it went to landfill.

It was not known what caused the fire but mechanical failure was suspected.