A MALVERN brook is being polluted by an oil slick that has killed fish and birds and is putting children's safety at risk.

Wildlife lover Pete Shepherd was sickened to find three dead blue tits alongside the brook, which runs through Victoria Park, and he has had to warn youngsters to keep out of the water.

Booms and matting to soak up the environmental mess are now in place, but according to Mr Shepherd, whose house backs on to the brook, the seeping oil shows no sign of slowing up.

"It looks like a thick layer of treacle covering the surface of the stream," said Mr Shepherd, of Park Close.

"The leak might be from an industrial estate further upstream, but I'm now at my wits' end. I breed canaries and show them all over the country. So to find these blue tits lying dead on the grass a few days ago was a real shock."

The builder says he has also had to warn off youngsters who climbed down the steep banks of the brook to paddle.

"By the time they left the water their legs were covered in oil. They didn't seem to see the slick," he said.

Mr Shepherd claims a neighbour contacted the council nearly three weeks ago when she reported the smell of oil but he did not believe anything had been done.

Finally, a fed-up Mr Shepherd phoned Severn Trent and a worker came out within an hour.

"They put down some matting to soak up the oil and this seems to be working for the time being," he said.

"But the mess is still building up and we need to find out the source."

"We always try to do our best to solve these problems and we're investigating the cause of this spillage," said a Severn Trent Water spokeswoman.

As the Evening News went to press, officials at Malvern Hills District Council confirmed they were looking into the claims.