The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Sprout of control!
INCIDENT: Fears for Christmas lunch as 10-tonne trailer topples over in Fife
Residents of Rosyth could be forgiven for thinking their Christmas dinners could be in jeopardy after a tractor shed its load of Brussels sprouts.
A 10-tonne trailer packed with hundreds of thousands of freshly harvested sprouts toppled over, narrowly missing a pedestrian and destroyed traffic barriers and a lamppost.
The crash led to the closure of the busy main A985 route. Picture Dave Johnston.
Residents in a Fife town could be forgiven for thinking their Christmas dinners are compromised after a tractor shed its load of several tonnes of Brussels sprouts.
Locals are still digesting the incident in which a 10-tonne trailer packed with hundreds of thousands of freshly harvested sprouts toppled over, narrowly missing a pedestrian and destroying traffic barriers and a lamppost, on Admiralty Road in Rosyth.
The crash, which forced the busy main A985 route to be closed for several hours, happened at around 10.25am.
Eyewitness Vivian Palomino, visiting her sister who lives just yards away from the incident, said she first spotted the vehicle moments before it crashed.
“I was at the side of the road talking to a neighbour when I heard the tractor go past.
“I saw the wheels of the trailer clip the roundabout which made the body of the vehicle sway or wobble from side to side.
“It looked like it was going to be alright but as it swayed back it kept on going and then came crashing down on to its side smashing through the railings.
“It’s a busy roundabout throughout the day and it’s a miracle nobody was injured or killed as the trailer landed in the very spot that just moments before I’d seen a lady walk past. The lady had a narrow escape and once she’d realised the extent of what had happened, she was in some shock.”
Melisa Graham, relief manager at Well Pharmacy near where the trailer landed, first got wind of the crash after she and fellow staff heard, what she described as a loud crash.
“We heard the noise but it was only moments later when customers came into the shop telling us did we realise the full extent of what had just happened.
“Many were joking about how Christmas has now been ruined because there will be no sprouts and how the shortage will push the price up.”
A recovery team used a crane and hoists to pull the curtain sided trailer back upright, several tonnes of the festive cargo were left strewn across the pavement.
The clean-up then started in earnest as the team set about using snow shovels to scoop the wayward vegetables back into the large wooden crates.
A police spokesman said: “The road was closed to allow for vehicle recovery and local diversions were put in place for motorists.
“Nobody was injured in the incident.”
For many, it is the ultimate festive nightmare – a lorry full of sprouts. Many Brits can’t stand the sight of a single little, green vegetable on their Christmas dinner plates – the thought of thousands of them could be too much to stomach.
Spare a thought then for the dedicated workers who shovelled up tonnes at Dalgety Bay after a trailer load of the leafy escapees threatened to swamp a street.
It was a true nightmare before Christmas.