DOZENS of staff and students have been evacuated from the University of Reading after a chemical spill.

The Food Sciences block at the main Whiteknights campus was closed off as a safety precaution while specialist contractors make their way to the scene.

It is not known what chemical was dropped but the incident occurred when a member of staff working in the labs accidentally knocked over a container while tidying this morning.

Initially just the room itself was cordoned off but by early afternoon it was decided to evacuate the whole building.

No one has been reported to have suffered any injuries.

A spokesman for the university said they expect the clean up to be completed over the weekend and lessons and research will be able to continue as normal on Monday morning.

He said: "We have closed off the building as a precautionary measure and we are waiting for a specialist team of contractors to come and help with the clean up.

"It has disrupted some of the ongoing research but we do not think it has had a massive impact on teaching.

"We expect it will all be open again in time for Monday.

"It was a scientist who was clearing up after an experiment and there was an accident essentially.

"Nobody was hurt."