A senior firefighter today defended the closure of both carriageways of the A12, which brought north Essex to a standstill on Friday.

Police marksmen and the Army were called in as emergency services dealt with a potentially explosive gas cylinder in a blazing Essex Fire and Rescue van that caused chaos on north Essex roads.

The single 9kg cylinder of oxyacetylene gas was part of the breathing apparatus worn by firefighters in dense smoke.

Trains to and from London were also stopped between Colchester and Marks Tey.

Emergency services worked closely to establish the quickest and safest way of clearing the potentially explosive cylinder.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Andy Fry said: "While we recognise the level of disruption caused by this incident, and realise it was very frustrating for all of the people affected, we will always put the safety of the people of Essex first in any decision we make.

"I would like to apologise to all the motorists inconvenienced by this incident and hope they will understand that the decision we took was not taken lightly and our actions were purely to ensure the safety of the public."

Army personnel were called out with a robot, which they used to open the rear doors of the van.

Police marksmen were standing by to potentially shoot the cylinder once they had a clear sight. This would have triggered a controlled explosion, with a technique never before used in the UK.

Eventually emergency crews established the cylinder had cooled down, and at about 6pm the northbound carriageway of the A12 was re-opened, and trains were once more running freely.

Although the cylinder was safe, it was decided to allow it the night to completely cool down and stabilise.

The southbound carriageway remained closed, and was not re-opened until about 10am on Saturday, after both the van and cylinder were removed.

The fire service van has been returned to the fire service workshops, in Lexden Road, Colchester, where a full investigation will take place.