MOTORISTS hoping to get away for a long-weekend break suffered long delays after a mysterious liquid was spotted on a road.

Firefighters based in Whitefield, Blackley and Ramsbottom were called to the eastbound M60 between junction 18 for Bury and junction 19 for Middleton at just before 8.30pm on Thursday (April 20).

They discovered that an industrial vehicle had dropped an unknown substance onto the road.

Police closed all three lanes and diverted traffic via the M60 southbound near Heaton Park for an hour until they concluded the chemical was not harmful and reopened the road.

It caused tailbacks as far as junction 15 and delays of up to two hours.

A Fire Service spokesman said: “It turned out that the substance was paint and not harmful, but we were not in a position to take a risk.

“In instances like this, it is very easy for toxic liquids and powders to transfer onto the wheels of a vehicle, which then parks up at home and then kids can get it on their hands and it can possibly lead to health problems.

“The police and the Highways Agency never like closing roads, especially at such as busy period at the start of a bank-holiday weekend, but you can never take risks.

“We used a specialist chemical detection unit, based at Ramsbottom, to make sure the chemical wasn’t harmful.”