FIREFIGHTERS were today battling to pull a car out of a lake at County Hall as oil poured into the water sparking fears for wildlife.

Car thieves could have been responsible for driving the Ford Sierra into the water as it emerged that scorched grass and tyre marks had been discovered nearby.

The light blue car was found around 8.45am today by an elderly man walking his dog.

A caretaker at the site raised the alarm and a fire engine and rescue vehicle, both from the city's station, arrived at the scene.

It was initially feared that there may have been someone trapped inside but as the salvage operation began this was ruled out.

Staff from County Hall saw the oil and were worried, said Keith Peters, leading firefighter from Worcester.

We used a manual wrench and anchored it to the tree to try and remove the car.

As the Evening News went to press, the car was still in the process of being removed.

Sheila McCarron, assistant facilities manager at County Hall, said staff from the nearby wildlife centre were assessing the environmental damage to the lake.

We are very concerned for the swans and wildlife, she said.

The one pond filters into the other and we have turned the one pump off in this pond to minimise the oil flow.

A Fire Brigade spokesman said it looked as though someone deliberately drove or pushed the car into the lake.

There are tyre marks in the ground and brickwork surrounding the lake had been broken, he said.

A County Hall spokesman said no one knew what had happened at this stage.

It's a rare occurrence, he said. The grass is rutted and scorched and the circular tyre marks in the grass do make it look like someone was driving around on the grass.

We're not too pleased to have this car in the lake and neither are the swans and ducks.

It looks like the car was driven from the car park down the steep grass amphitheatre.

This is a dangerous and reckless thing to do. Our lake is for wildlife not wild teenagers.