QUICK thinking environment officers and firefighters have been praised for stopping a chemical spillage from becoming an ecological disaster.

Officials were called to the roundabout between the A68 and A6888 on the outskirts of Bishop Auckland on Wednesday afternoon after reports of a crop sprayer having overturned and spilled its load.

About 3,500 litres of diluted herbicide escaped from the vehicle after it overturned at Hummerbeck at about 2.45pm.

The roads were closed for several hours as Firefighters from Bishop Auckland and officers from the Environment Agency fought to stop the leak from spreading.

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said the chemicals had been contained in a small pond, usually used for drainage from the road surface, and there was no risk of it contaminating anything else.

There had been fears that some of the chemicals could have leaked into the nearby River Gaunless potentially causing a catastrophe for river dwelling wildlife and plants.

Ecological tests revealed the river was clean of contaminants however and the Agency spokeswoman said an operation is now underway to remove the contained chemicals.

She said: "It was fortunate that officers from the Environment Agency were passing the scene on their way from a job so could react and start the clean up very quickly alongside the fire crews.

"Had they not been there so quickly, the spillage could have reached the river which could have proved disastrous."