ESSEX Fire and Rescue Service has revealed 15 of its firefighters were taken to hospital after treating the hazardous chemical spill at West Thurrock.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Rick Hylton said: "This has been a complicated incident and with a multi-agency approach with Essex Police, East of England Ambulance Service, Public Health England, Thurrock Council and the Environment Agency to manage the incident.

"Thank you to all who have been involved.

"As a precautionary measure 15 firefighters were transported to local hospitals overnight and following assessment were released shortly after.

"The hard work and dedication of our staff and team work across agencies has meant we had the incident contained and a plan in place to successfully and safely resolve the incident.

"Our crews are continuing to work hard to support the industrial site management and the Environmental Agency."

Chemical Leak - West Thurrock

Update 9.15pm - STATEMENT

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Neil Fenwick, Area Manager at Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, has explained what happened.

He said: "We understand that the cloud includes an amount of hydrocholoric acid.

"A 100 metre exclusion zone was created at the site earlier today as a precautionary measure.

"We now know that these fumes were caused by a tank that has failed, the leak is contained to within the site."