It was 'shallot' of work for the emergency services as thousands of onions blocked a road after a tractor overturned.

A road was blocked for four hours as emergency services attempted to help drivers onion way by clearing the root vegetables which completely covered the road on January 9, writes Debbie Luxon, SWNS.

Drivers were greeted by the eye-watering sight after the tractor overturned between 8 and 9am on an A road junction in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire.

Photos show police vehicles surrounding the haul and a tractor laying on its side with 12 large boxes of onions spilling onto the road and pavement.

It is not known what caused the tractor to tip over, but thankfully no one was harmed in the incident.

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A spokesperson from Cambridge Police said: "We were called at about 8.50am yesterday morning with reports a tractor trailer had overturned on the junction of the A141 and A142 at Chatteris, spilling its load of onions.

"No arrests were made or injuries reported.

"The road was blocked while the recovery of the onions and the trailer took place. It reopened at about 12.50pm."

Melissa Atwell spotted the incident on her morning drive and reported the "rogue onions" to a local Facebook group.

Commenters didn't hold back with the puns.

One wrote that "it will all end in tears" while another was sure there had to be "more layers to the story".

Meanwhile Tom Chapman wrote that the police should "a-peel for witnesses".