Customers of a traditional Worcester pub were astonished to see firefighters in bright yellow "space suits" entering the bar.

The Pheasant pub, New Street, had to be evacuated as environmental health officers were called to investigate a chemical leak in the cellar at 1.30pm yesterday.

The fire brigade cut off the gas supply and two firefighters, wearing full chemical protection suits, entered to examine the spillage.

They discovered a refrigeration unit had broken down and was leaking into another pool of liquid.

"The brigade has a system to identify chemical substances and on investigation, the liquid was found to be bleach," said Alec Mackie, spokesman for Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigade.

"All precautions were necessary because you never know what you are dealing with, but it was safely disposed of in the end."

One fire crew from Worcester and two from Droitwich left the scene at around 2.20pm and The Pheasant was re-opened soon after.