Fifty firefighters from Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire worked together last night to prevent an oil tanker on the M40 from exploding.

The motorway has now been reopened following the incident on the southbound carriageway, between Stokenchurch at junction five, and junction six at Lewknor.

The fire started in the cab of the Texaco tanker when the vehicle carrying 30,000 litres of petrol and diesel fuel was heading south at about 8.30pm.

The driver of the tanker escaped unhurt and called firefighters, who had to work fast to smother flames when a tank 2,000 litres of diesel ruptured and caught alight.

Incident commander Richard Bowley, based at Kidlington, said firefighters prevented the flames from spread to petrol tanks carrying about 15,000 litres of petrol.

He added: “There was the potential for the petrol tanker to rupture and explode.

“I have been a firefighter for 30 years and I have only dealt with one other incident like this.

“This is the type of incident we train for and we worked very well with firefighters from Buckinghamshire.

“The incident happened near the top of the Stokenchurch cutting and what made it more difficult to deal with was the fuel running down the hill towards Oxford.

“We put barriers in place to divert the fuel and worked with the Environment Agency to prevent it from leaking into the drains.”

Mr Bowley said firefighters were at the scene throughout the night while fuel was decanted from tanks to to allow the tanker to be removed.

Drivers suffered long delays as fire crews dealt with the blaze on hard shoulder of the London-bound carriageway.

They were forced to get out of their vehicles and move out of the 200m exclusion zone created by emergency crews.

A total of eight Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire fire engines from Thame, Watlington, The Slade in Oxford, Stokenchurch and High Wycombe attended.

A number of specialist vehicles were also needed, including foam tenders from Wheatley and Princes Risborough, a water carrier from Waddesdon, the incident command unit from Woodstock, the environmental protection unit from Rewley Road in Oxford, the rescue tender from Kidlington, the incident support unit from Eynsham, and a flatbed vehicle with extra foam supplies from Kidlington.

Fire crews working with Thames Valley Police and the Highways Agency brought the incident under control within three hours.

A spokesman for Oxfordshire Fire Service said the tanker cab and two thirds of the load were completely destroyed by fire.

Firefighters are now helping the Environment Agency to prevent fuel running into the drains.

The motorway was closed in both directions at around 8.30pm last night.

The northbound stretch was opened earlier this morning, and traffic is now using the southbound carriageway as well.