About Herefordshire

A street sweeping machine was undertaking its early morning rounds when the leak occurred, leaving a trail of oil around much of the High Town, Broad Street and King Street areas.

The Council moved quickly to minimise the risk to pedestrians, as John Bobin, the Street Scene Manager for Hereford, explained to BBC Hereford and Worcester:

"An operational sweeping vehicle developed a hydraulic oil leak; as soon as it was noticed in the High Town area, the vehicle was stopped.

"From that moment, we've been putting down granules to soak up the oil and, since six o'clock this morning when the leak was seen, we've been mounting a clean up operation."

The clean up lasted for much of the day, with some of the worst affected areas cordoned off to allow first the granules to be scattered, and then for a replacement machine to complete the cleaning operation.

Cleaning up the granules after the leak

John Bobin said that, as with any system that relies heavily on mechanical equipment, there is always the danger of this kind of incident, but pointed out that the council's response had both immediate and thorough:

"As soon as it was discovered, the vehicle was stopped and taken out of service.

"We've been making sure that there is no slippage for the public, but our prime objective is getting the area as clean as soon as possible."

It was anticipated that the operation would be completed by late on Friday 2 November, with the only evidence of the incident being a slight whitening of the pavements in the affected areas.