FIRE crews wore chemical protection suits and worked alongside company staff to decontaminate an employee at a Widnes manufacturing site who had been splashed with a corrosive substance.

A hazardous materials unit from Warrington and three fire engines were called to Tessenderlo UK on the West Bank Dock Estate last Wednesday evening following the report of a chemical incident.

Firefighters said the emergency centred around the chemical N-Butyl chloride which had leaked from a tanker on the premises.

The man was decontaminated by the fire crews and then taken to Whiston Hospital by ambulance where he under went emergency treatment. A Cheshire Fire Service spokesman said that Widnes firefighters 'aided and assisted' personnel on the site and took advice from the company on how best to contain the leak. The affected employee was later released from hospital after undergoing treatment. The spokesman said the cause of the leak was unknown. A company statement said: 'Tessenderlo UK is committed to the safe operation of all our plants, to ensure a safe working environment for all our employees and contractors, the local community and the environment.'