A MASSIVE diesel spillage has swamped a three-mile stretch of a village brook near Evesham.

Three fire crews and the Environment Agency spent yesterday morning frantically trying to trace the cause of the leak and prevent an environmental disaster along the Badsey Brook at Badsey.

The brook runs into the River Avon at Offenham, just north of Evesham.

A five-strong crew from Evesham Fire Station was the first on the scene, off Blackminster Road, at 9.15am.

But when firefighters saw the size of the slick, they were forced to call for back-up.

By 10am, two more appliances, one from Evesham, another from Broadway, and the brigade's Environmental Protection Unit, were on the banks of the brook and Environment Agency experts were also on their way to the village.

A fire brigade spokesman said a worried villager made the emergency call just after 9am.

One eyewitness, who asked not to be named, said the diesel was being spread quickly by the fast-flowing water.

"The fire crews were really having to battle with it," said the man.

"The current was taking it downstream very quickly. But there were three booms upstream and a number downstream to stop it spreading.

"The water's completely covered in it."

A fire brigade spokesman confirmed the diesel had affected a three-mile stretch of the brook.

He said the source of the spillage was a land drain running into the brook just north of Badsey. By noon, the situation was under control.

"The fire brigade laid booms across the brook which soaked up the oil," said Environment Agency spokeswoman Jenny Strattlon.

"The incident had been cleared up by lunchtime, so it happened over a very short space of time.

"At this point there doesn't seem to be any adverse effect on wildlife so it looks as if, fingers crossed, everything's going to be OK."

She said experts from the agency would be monitoring the site over the next few days to make sure wildlife remained unharmed, and confirmed investigations would continue into the cause of the fuel spillage.

"Unfortunately, these things happen quite frequently," she added. "We're still trying to get to the bottom of it."