At around 5am this morning, an HGV hit a raising bollard and its fuel tank was ruptured as it left a yard on Imperial Road.
This caused 580 litres of diesel to spill onto one of the busiest roads in the city.
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The council has said work to repair the road will take place tonight and tomorrow – with the road re-opened during the day on Friday to stop any traffic issues.
A council spokesperson said: “We will be resurfacing the worst affected areas of the carriageway overnight tonight and tomorrow, splitting the work to enable the roads to be reopened during the day tomorrow.
“The spill has spread over 2twomiles of Southampton’s network, so there is a vast area to assess and any potential repair, will take time.”