Irish Sea oil pipe leak: Balls of tar wash up on Blackpool coast

Blackpool lies about 40 miles (64km) north-east of where the spill happened

Balls of tar have washed up on the Lancashire coast, a day after about 500 barrels of oil leaked from a pipe into the Irish Sea off north Wales.

The pipe, which runs between two platforms named Conwy and Douglas, was shut off following the leak on Monday and remains closed.

Operator ENI UK said "a number of small tar balls" had washed up on "a section of the Blackpool coast".

It said clean-up teams were on site and working with the local authorities.

The pipe, which runs between two platforms named Conwy and Douglas, was shut off following the leak

On Tuesday, the firm said details of what happened about 20 miles (33km) north of Rhyl, Denbighshire, were still being confirmed, but no-one was affected.

Blackpool lies about 40 miles (64km) north-east of where the spill happened.

Experts had predicted any impact of the spill would hit the Wirral Peninsula, to the south of where the tar balls were washed up, but high tides and the effect of Storm Dudley have pushed the spill further north.

Tar balls often wash ashore following an oil spill, as happened on a beach in the US in 2010 (pictured above)

Dr Stephen Jay, director of the Liverpool Institute for Sustainable Coasts and Oceans, said the leak was "thankfully small-scale, compared to major spills that sometimes hit the news".

"However, it is not without consequences, especially if it does wash onshore," he said.

He added that the coast of North West England had "a host of sensitive and valuable habitats, such as estuaries, salt marshes and dune systems, which could be impacted by oil pollution".