Emergency services have been thanked for preventing a major oil spill in a lake

Environment Agency officers and firefighters were called on Wednesday after a tanker carrying up to 9,000 litres of heating oil leaked into Brooklands lake in Western Road, Worthing.

Some of the oil made its way into the lake through surface water drains, killing some of its fish.

But a quick response from the authorities contained the oil to small section of the lake before it was scraped and mopped from the surface of the water.

Councillor Edward Crouch, who is in charge of Worthing Borough Council’s environmental services, said the team had prevented a “major environmental incident”.

He said: “I want to praise the teams from a range of authorities for responding so quickly to this incident.

“Teams from our parks team are on site today to assess the impact on local wildlife living in and near the lake.

“Any response will need to balance protecting the unique wildlife habitat of Brooklands with the fact the lake exists to collect rainwater to prevent the local area from flooding.”