A LORRY carrying more than £1m in cash has spilled its load across a West Swindon road and forced a closure this afternoon.

Shortly after 1.30pm, a Loomis lorry was seen braking hard on the southbound entry to Renault roundabout before cash trollies crashed through the front of its trailer.

Bagged coins and notes, reportedly worth more than seven figures, were strewn across the carriageway as vehicles made their way around the stranded heavy goods vehicle.

Wiltshire Police was soon called and a team including armed officers was dispatched to manage traffic and monitor the precious load.

As a result of the incident, Swindon Council has closed Mead Way northbound between the Withymead and Renault roundabouts until further notice.

One of the first officers on the scene was Sergeant Gemma Vinton, who said: “At the moment we are assisting with traffic control and trying to get to the bottom of what’s happened.

“My understanding is no other vehicles have been involved in the incident.

“I am expecting there to be traffic disruption for the next hour to hour-and-a-half. Obviously we will remain here whilst the vehicle is recovered.

“This is certainly not something I have come across before.”

When asked about the threat of theft with the money across the road, Sgt Vinton said: “It’s obviously a consideration. There are firearms officers in attendance.”

Lizzie Bowering, who drove past the incident shortly after it occurred, said: “I didn’t see it myself, but a friend of mine did.

“She was coming in the opposite direction and the lorry suddenly broke coming into the roundabout.

“It shunted and then all of the stuff inside poured out onto the road.”

Loomis is a cash management specialist which assists with the public flow of cash.

It provides cash management solutions and services to organisations which handle cash, whether they need to transport cash securely, eliminate opportunities for fraud or analyse and understand their cash flow in detail.