How trailer with 12 tonnes of chicken manure ended up perched over river
A Shropshire farmer has told how his muck spreader containing 12 tonnes of chicken manure was left poised perilously over a river after his trailer hit a bridge.
Martin Wood, aged 40, had pulled his tractor and trailer on to a verge on a narrow south Shropshire road to give a car a chance to get over the bridge, on the Lydham to Pulverbatch road, at Wentnor in south Shropshire, on February 3.
It was on a stone bridge over the River East Onny, and it was then that the trouble started.
"As I went to move off, the verge bank of loose stones gave way under the spreader," said Mr Wood, of JA Wood and Sons, at Kinnerton Farm, Ratlinghope.
"I had pulled over to let a car go by and as I went to pull away the verge went from under me.
"We managed to stop the muck spreader from going over into the brook. A few loose stones were knocked off the wall of the bridge."
Although the muck spreader was carrying 12 tonnes of manure, Mr Wood reckons between half a tonne and one tonne of the load went on to the bank and some inevitably went into the water.
Mr Wood, who is the third generation of family farmers at Kinnerton Farm, had been on his way to spread the contents of his trailer onto nearby farm land to fertilise the soil.
Realising the possible ecological impact of a whole load of chicken droppings heading down the bank and into the river, Mr Wood set about helping clearing up the mess before he could continue on his journey.
One fire engine was sent to the scene from Bishop's Castle, and found the tractor and trailer which required stabilisation. They tweeted a picture that showed a trailer with its contents poised over the bridge and river.
Police safer neighbourhood teams from Bishop's Castle and Church Stretton and a team from West Midlands Ambulance Service were also called out. The ambulance wasn't required but emergency workers said it took six hours to recover the tractor and trailer, clean up the scene and then make the bridge safe.
Concerned nearby resident Patrick Cosgrove was pleased that no lasting harm has been done to the River East Onny but fears that it is only a matter of time before there is a pollution incident.
Mr Cosgrove said he had been reassured by the Environment Agency but remained concerned about pollution in local rivers, including the Wye, and called for a stop to intensive chicken farming.
"For me at least this accident is yet another argument for a halt to the approval of further chicken units in a part of the country that is already over-populated with them," he said.
