A MAN who was treated by paramedics said he could not stop throwing up after a thick gas cloud escaped from a tanker.

James Morgan was left feeling nauseous and breathing heavily after the tanker leaked liquid nitrogen covering Vines Lane.

A second woman was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital with potentially serious injuries - but the company behind the leak, Doncasters Precision Castings, denies the gas is hazardous.

Firefighters were called to the street in Droitwich and homes were evacuated as a large white cloud covered the road on Tuesday morning (June 20).

 

Mr Morgan, who lives in Vines Lane, said: "I couldn't stop throwing up.

"It was awful, I couldn't actually breathe."

Mr Morgan had to take the day off work because of the impact the smoke had on his body.

"I was sat down having my coffee and [a bang] goes off and I thought 'here we go again' because I knew what it was.

"This is the fifth time this has happened in the last six months."

A  Doncasters Precision Castings spokesperson claims the smoke is colourless and tasteless and does not cause harm.

But Mr Morgan said: "I couldn't breathe, I've lived here my whole life, this is my family home - but I'd be surprised if I'm still here in 18 months,

"They usually last about ten minutes but this is the longest it has lasted. It lasted a minimum of 25 minutes.

"I was checked over by paramedics and they said I had to be on surveillance for four hours after breathing it in.

"I was really angry but at the same time I thought some action might finally be taken against what is happening."

The DPC Deritend Ltd spokesperson said: "This is a standard practice carried out by BOC Ltd, who supply the Droitwich site.

"As part of this process, some excess nitrogen was released into the atmosphere. This is entirely routine and is not harmful or hazardous.

"Liquid nitrogen is a colourless, tasteless, low-viscosity liquid widely used as a coolant.

"At a meeting on 8 June, we talked to local residents through the process of refilling the tanks and assured them at the time that this was not injurious to health in any way.

"During the refill, the fire brigade visited the site and confirmed the gas was non-hazardous.

"We have been informed that a local resident was taken ill at the same time. We are naturally concerned for their welfare and send our well wishes.”