Roads and trains chaos hits Perthshire

Jul 29 2011 by Iain Howie, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

ROADS around Perthshire were hit by chaos on Thursday morning after vehicles were involved in a number of collisions.

Tayside Police reported two incidents on the M90 – both of which saw cars on their roofs – two on the A9 and one near Meigle all in a three-hour spell between 7am and 10am.

A fuel spill, believed to be diesel, is said to have contributed to three of the collisions, one of which involved a woman and a baby at Craigend on the outskirts of Perth.

The incidents started with a police call-out to a car on its roof on the M90, three-quarters of a mile north of junction seven at Glenfarg. Two vehicles were involved and a male was said to have suffered a slight injury.

Then, shortly after 8am on the A9 north at Cairnie Braes an articulated lorry was in collision with a van and next to it a Renault Megane coupe was in collision with a Mini.

There were no injuries reported in the lorry-van collision and a motorist was taken to Perth Royal Infirmary with a minor injury from the two-car collision

And at the Craigend interchange in the direction of Friarton bridge a female with a young baby left the road and ended up on the embankment between the split level carriageways at about 8.15am.

Police said the woman was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee for treatment.

A Tayside Police spokesperson said it was reported the car was on its roof at Craigend. A number of lorry drivers and other motorists stopped to assist and warn other drivers of debris and the slippery conditions.

The baby was not reported to have suffered any injuries.

Traffic police were also called to Meigle at about 10am with reports of a four-vehicle collision. A man is believed to have suffered a head injury in that incident.

A motorist travelling north on the A9 reported that lane one of the route was covered with a slick of oil or fuel, making driving conditions slippy at points, even at reduced speeds.

He told the PA that he noticed the slippery covering from about Greenloaning covering 20 miles of the route all the way to around Broxden on the outskirts of Perth.

The motorist also said road conditions were slippy around Craigend near to where the woman and baby crashed in their Vauxhall Corsa car and also on the A85 as it passes under the M90.

He said: “There was definitely a covering of something which put a blue sheen on the carriageway. In my car you could straddle the slick but there were points where it changed lanes.

“We had to snake between the collisions at Cairnie Braes at low speeds as it was clear the road was slippery.”

A spokesperson for Tayside Police said: “We worked with Bear Scotland to have the diesel spill cleared up after the series of incidents.

“It appears the diesel spill may have contributed to three of the collisions, although the collision on the M90 at Glenfarg and at Meigle have not been connected to this.

“Generally after periods of dry spells followed by rain as we had overnight and yesterday morning the roads are greasy so caution is advised in these circumstances.”

l Rail travellers were also hit by a reduced service to Edinburgh following a derailment between the capital’s Haymarket and Waverley stations. The Edinburgh-Perth service in both directions was cancelled according to ScotRail, which said passengers could board the Edinburgh to Inverness via Perth services instead.