POLICE are warning that fuel criminals are putting people's health at risk by dumping harmful acid in leaking containers.

Officers said that so-called fuel launderers were illegally converting red diesel into fuel that appeared to be normal diesel.

And they are dumping the hydrochloric acid which results from the filter process.

Inspector Peter Stas said the activity was taking place in disused barns, farm outbuildings and small units in industrial estates across the county.

At the end of the process, concentrated hydrochloric acid, contaminated with red dye, is dumped in public places, usually abandoned at the side of the road.

He said four cases had come to light in the west of the county and in each case the containers leaked. And he said it was happening in East Lancashire as well.

Insp Stas said: "Hydrochloric acid containing the red dye is stored in 1,000 litre plastic containers and when a large number of these have been collected they are transported from the premises on a lorry or trailer, which has had its identification removed.

"That vehicle is then abandoned on a road or other public place causing extreme danger to the public or the environment."

He added that the condition of the containers was usually very poor, leading to leakage and he warned it posed a "potential high risk of serious injury" especially to children who played around such vehicles.

Police are working together with Customs and Excise and the Environment Agency to try to combat the threat.

And he warned children to stay away from suspicious containers.

Anybody contaminated by the diesel should seek immediate medical attention.