HAZARDOUS chemicals have leaked from a waste plant that was destroyed in a large fire yesterday in a village near York.

A handful of dead fish were found in Fleet Beck, the waterway that runs alongside Marston Business Park, just outside Tockwith after BCB Environmental Management’s waste transfer facility burnt down.

The facility acted as an intermediary site for waste chemicals, such as paint thinners and solvents, on their way to be recycled.

A spokesman from the Environment Agency confirmed that some pollution had entered the beck and they found some dead fish. Although he said the majority of the spillage has been contained.

The Environment Agency were at the scene yesterday monitoring the beck and had sandbags at the ready to try to contain any leakages. But the size of the blaze meant that there were areas they couldn’t reach, he said.

The agency has put a bund, a barrier, in the beck at Fleet Bridge to stop the chemicals spreading and the contaminated water will be pumped out and taken away in tankers for safe disposal, he said.

The agency is in the process of sampling the water to find out what the leak was.

“We got the bunds in pretty sharpish after the fire started but some material has leaked off site where these dead fish were found,” he said.

The Environment Agency has passed on responsibility for debris, parts of the burning building which were blown into the village to Harrogate Borough Council, which holds the portfolio for litter, he confirmed.