A DRIVER has been sacked and another reprimanded after the same bus caused two major fuel spillages on Wyre Forest roads within a week.

Diamond Buses faces a hefty clean-up bill from Worcestershire County Council following an incident on Queensway on Friday (November 17) which saw one its vehicles suffer a fuel leak after hitting a speed bump.

Resourceful residents, angling instructor Jo Bloom and Jackie Presley, sprang into action and used dozens of incontinence pads to help soak up the diesel and potentially prevent a “catastrophic” environmental disaster.

The pair, who are members of the Bewdley Flood Group, also used flood sax to stem the flow.

Jo, who is 47, said: “The diesel was flowing straight into the drains and this goes straight into the water course.

“We have a whole host of species such as voles and carp in our waters near to where this leak happened and the devastation this would have caused would have been catastrophic.

“People need to realise that when liquid such as oil or paint goes down a man hole it is going into a water course somewhere. If there is any good to come from this, it is to raise awareness of this issue.

“Jackie alerted me and we just gathered as many pads as we could from home and from neighbours and used them to soak up the fuel. They were more effective than the sandbags.

“We didn’t really think about it. We just wanted to stop the diesel getting into the river.”

This spillage came just three days after the same vehicle, operating the Number 2 service, hit the same speed bump but carried on its journey into Habberley and Kidderminster Town Centre resulting in the diesel leaking on to a number of roads.

A spokesman for Diamond told The Shuttle that the driver of the first incident had been dismissed for gross misconduct and driving without due care and attention.

The driver of the bus on Friday was reprimanded following an internal investigation and bosses have issued advice about navigating the speed bump to all staff operating on the route.

The spokesman added that the damaged bus – which had a new £1,200 fuel tank fitted after the first leak - was one of the newer vehicles in the Kidderminster depot and had a different chassis design to others in the fleet.

It is currently off road having undergone further repairs and won’t be used until it has been fully inspected and deemed roadworthy by the DVSA.

Other buses with a different chassis design are now being used on the route.

The company has also raised issues about the speed bump in question with Worcestershire County Council.

The spokesman said: "What the residents did was extremely helpful and they deserve credit."