It is estimated that about 7,500 litres of diesel was lost into the surrounding environment following a fuel tanker crash last Friday in south-west Wales.

A Texaco-branded tanker was involved in a collision with a crane in Pembrokeshire and fire crews arrived at the scene to find its end tank, containing 15,000 litres of diesel, had been ruptured.

Mid & West Wales Fire & Rescue Service said: “The collision resulted in a significant release of fuel on to the road surface and nearby drainage systems, discharging directly into the nearby Merlin’s Brook. Despite the driver’s best efforts to contain the spillage, it is estimated that about 7,500 litres of diesel was lost into the brook and drainage system.”

Fire crews used grab packs, environmental protection equipment and other improvised measures in an attempt to contain the fuel still leaking from the damaged tank and the fuel remaining in the drainage system and on the road surface. Fire crews remained on the scene until the remaining contents of the damaged tank were decanted.

Station manager David Hancock, Fire & Rescue Service incident commander said: “In spite of the environmental outcome of this collision, responding agencies did all they could to mitigate the effects of the spill.

“The environmental protection equipment provided by Natural Resources Wales for use in these incidents proved invaluable and the manner in which the responding crews and partner agencies coordinated their efforts to resolve the incident is to be commended.”

A spokesperson from Natural Resources Wales said: “Officers were on site on Monday morning to remove the booms from Merlin’s Brook which managed to contain some of the fuel after the incident on Friday.

“We’ve been monitoring conditions in the brook very closely over the weekend, and while a visible sheen has remained on the water, we haven’t seen any evidence that this incident will cause any long-term damage.”

The cause of the collision is still under investigation. For more about the crash click here.