Disruption ongoing during diesel spill clean up

Work to resurface the road is ongoing

Clean-up operations have continued through the night after a diesel spillage along 10 miles (16km) of roads in Surrey, with closures still in place.

Workers aim to have the road fully resurfaced by the weekend prior to a planned closure of the nearby M25.

A lorry leaked the fuel on roads around Dorking and Leatherhead, as well as at the Cobham services on the M25, on Tuesday.

Surrey Highways said drivers were ignoring the closure, despite it being "extremely slippery".

The authority said this was causing further damage to the road surface and safety concerns for teams on site.

A spokesperson said: "Please avoid the area until further notice or follow the signs and diversions."

Work is ongoing to remove the diesel and resurface the road

The A24 northbound remains closed from Rusper Road, Capel to the B2122 Epsom Road, Leatherhead, according to traffic monitoring site Inrix.

Surrey Highways, which is leading on the clean up and resurfacing, said: "We're starting works at the southern end of the A24 (Beare Green) so that the communities that are currently isolated can get out and about."

The authority said on Wednesday the road between the Beare Green roundabout and Old Horsham Road had been repaired with 400 tonnes of tarmac.

It said further testing had been carried out "to fully understand the extent of the damage and prioritise further action".

Work at the southern end of the A24 would help isolated communities, the council said

Work will also continue at the northern end of the closure, at junction nine of the M25, with the third full closure of the M25 planned between junctions 10 and 11 from Friday.

Matt Furniss, cabinet member for highways at Surrey County Council, said despite initial estimates of 16,000 litre (3,520 gallons) of fuel being spilled, the authority now thought it was more like 400 litres.

He told BBC Radio Surrey on Tuesday that 10 miles of road would need to be resurfaced and teams would be working 24/7 to get it reopened.

Mr Furniss added: "It has been a bit of a challenge but we are used to diesel spills sadly."

He said the council would attempt to claim money back on the driver's insurance.