COUNCIL bosses have pledged to catch and prosecute fly-tippers who dumped thousands of litres of suspected toxic chemicals at a Hyndburn beauty spot.

Large amounts of a bright-blue substance spilled out on to the countryside after six huge 1,000-litre drums were dumped at the remote King's Highway in Huncoat.

Liquid was leaking from one of the drums and fire crews used sand to stem the flow and make the area safe.

The area is a notorious fly-tipping site and earlier this year Hyndburn Council launched a massive campaign to tackle the problem.

Council leader Peter Britcliffe said: "It is totally irresponsible behaviour by whoever has dumped these containers."

Coun Britcliffe added "King's Highway is such a beautiful area and these incidents are appalling.

"We are taking this issue extremely seriously and I will make sure our environmental health department invest-igates the incident fully."

At this stage it is still uncertain what the drums contained.

It is thought that they were pushed from the side of a flat-bed truck or lorry on to the roadside, causing one of them to break open.

Crew manager Chris Fogarty from Accrington Fire Station said: "These containers have been dumped with no concern for the environment.

"It is completely mindless to do something like this."

He added: "One of the drums was leaking and we had to treat it with care.

"There were no markings on the drums to tell us what was inside."

He said that he believes that the liquid was polymer based, with a similar consistency as paint.

He said that the liquid had started to set after it had leaked from the container.

Campaigners have called for Lancashire County Council to install a locked gate at the entrance to King's Highway to stop fly-tippers, but the scheme has been approved but has been dogged by delays.