OIL dumped in a stream in Malvern should not cause any long-term damage, the Environment Agency has said.

Staff found the oil in a stream just off Sandys Road, near Spring Lane Industrial Estate, while they were carrying out work in the area on Friday morning.

They were concerned at the oil running into the nearby Madresfield Brook and used pads and two large booms to isolate and absorb the oil.

It was feared that parts of the watercourse would need to be dug out due to the incident but Dave Throup, manager for Herefordshire and Worcestershire, said this is now very unlikely.

“We are still monitoring the stream on a daily basis but the good news is that I don’t think there has been any long-term damage,” he said. “We still don’t know exactly where the oil came from but the suspicion remains that it was dumped there.”

Anyone with information regarding the oil can call the Environment Agency’s incident hotline on 0800 807060.