DIESEL fuel has been reported to be polluting a protected marine area near Llanelli after Wednesday night’s derailment of a DB Cargo freight train at Llangennech.

It has now emerged that the crew were able to detach the locomotive after the derailment, when several fuel wagons caught fire. Both members of the crew were uninjured.

The fire was finally contained last night and investigations are continuing at the scene, but diesel oil has been reported in the Loughor River, near the site of the derailment.

The fire itself was ‘top priority’, said British Transport Police Superintendent Andy Morgan, but he added: ‘the second priority is the environmental issues which come from that’.

The Burry Inlet Cockle Fishery includes the Loughor estuary and three other Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and Natural Resources Wales has issued warnings to farmers, landowners and cockle pickers.

The cause of the derailment is not yet known.