A BIG clean-up operation swung into action after oil spilled into a pond in a Worcester park.

Firefighters – including a team from Hereford and Worcester’s environmental protection unit – park wardens and wildlife charity volunteers battled to limit the damage at Gheluvelt Park. Two swans were rescued and taken away to be cleaned up and local people have been asked not to feed the ducks for a few days for fear they will swallow the oil.

The Environment Agency is investigating the spillage.

Firefighters used inflatable buoys to prevent more oil entering the water. An Environment Agency spokesman said: “A substantial quantity of a substance we believe to be some sort of oil has polluted the Barbourne Brook in Worcester.

“We believe that several tens of litres are involved, at least.

“One litre of this type of substance will cover an area of water the size of a football pitch.”

Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service was called to the park at 12.50pm yesterday.

One appliance from Worcester and two from Stourport-on-Severn attended and immediately started trying to contain the spill.

The fire service’s environmental protection unit was also on site and officers used absorbent pads in the water to mop up the pollutant.

Concerned volunteers from Bishops Wood Swan Rescue Centre desperately tried to rescue two swans covered in oil.

Park wardens decided to drain the pond into the river Severn to allow the volunteers access to the birds.

As the blackened water gushed through the sluice gates, volunteers waded into the pond in a bid to catch the swans.

After several attempts, father and son team Nick and James Lee from the rescue centre managed to catch the birds.

Mr Lee senior said: “We will take them back to the centre and clean them up.

“I should think the oil has gone well into their feathers.

“They will be with us for a few weeks before they get their water proofing back.”

Specialist contractors arrived at the scene and began the clean-up operation after the source was found and stopped.

The Environment Agency has launched an investigation into how the water became polluted and for legal reasons were not able to say what the source was.