ENVIRONMENT Agency officers were today trying to find the occupiers of a lock-up from where thousands of litres of fuel leaked into a stream.

Fire crews spent four hours trying to stop the leak yesterday morning after they were called to the lock-up, next to a mill in Mill Street, Oswaldtwistle.

Several thousand litres of fuel, believed to be diesel, had already leaked into Tinker Brook.

An Environment Agency spokesman said they did not know how the spillage had affected wildlife.

He said: "There is aquatic life in the brook and we first tried to contain the spill then took a sample to see just what damage had been done. We have not found the occupier of the unit yet and we are trying to track him down to find out what happened."

He added: "It is too early to rule out a prosecution."

The Environment Agency secured a successful prosecution against another Oswaldtwistle firm last year after it was found guilty of polluting the brook.