Chemical leak kills river's fish

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Thousands of fish were killed when chemicals leaked into a river and contaminated it after a fire at a Gloucestershire chemical plant.

Investigations are under way into the fire on Monday, at pool treatment specialists Biolab in Andoversford.

Thousands of fish in the River Coln died, including trout and bullheads.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said until they knew exactly what the chemicals were and their effects, people should stay away.

"Our officers have been working hard since the incident, day and night, to reduce the amount of pollutants reaching the river and, where they have, to mitigate the impact on fish," said environment manager Barry Russell.

Fish rescue

"Sadly a large number of fish have been killed in this incident, but we have undertaken a fish rescue near Withington last night and we are continuing to monitor the situation to gauge whether more action would be appropriate.

"We have employed two aerators just below Withington and earlier today fisheries teams found live fish, which were not in distress, upstream of where we believe the pollutants to have reached.

"This is an encouraging sign, but if we feel another rescue is appropriate we will carry one out."

The 40ft flame was caught on thermal imaging cameras

The weather forecast for the remainder of the week currently looks fine and sunny so research can continue to be carried out.

The flow of the river is not expected to increase over the next few days, which is expected to help to slow down the movement of the pollution.

At its height, 100 firefighters and 20 fire engines tackled the blaze.

Police said there were at least three explosions after the fire broke out.

The site has now been handed over to the Health and Safety Executive in conjunction with Cotswold District Council to find out how the fire started.

Cotswold district councillor Mrs Sydney Harrison, who represents Sandywell ward said: "Local people deserve and will expect a full explanation and will need to be reassured that this type of incident will never happen again."