A MAJOR mopping-up operation at Fawley Refinery is nearing completion as bosses attempt to pinpoint the cause of a big oil leak.

Esso contacted the Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency after oil started gushing out of a 36in-diameter pipe last Thursday.

Esso originally said that 100 tons of oil leaked out, but later confirmed that 1,500 tons had escaped.

An Esso spokesman said: "A pipe sprang a leak and the pumps shut down immediately, which meant no "new" oil entered the pipe. The leak was confined to the oil that was already in the pipe, which was then isolated."

The spokesman said most of the oil was sucked up by small tankers similar to those used by local authorities to clear drains.

"Most of it was removed before the weekend and we are now down to the small final amounts," he said. "It was a serious spillage, but the volume was not that large compared to the quantity of oil that we handle at the refinery.

"The most important thing as far as we're concerned is that it didn't get into Southampton Water and didn't damage the salt marsh area."

A full investigation is being carried out to determine the cause of the leak.

The spillage and recent noise problems at the refinery are likely to be raised at Thursday's meeting of the New Forest Environmental Protection Liaison Committee at the Jubilee Hall, Fawley.

Every year the committee holds one of its meetings in the Waterside area - home to almost all the major industrial development in the district.