THOUSANDS of litres of oil leaked into the River Avon at Little Somerford after a vandal cut the pipe from a storage tank.

The 2,000 litres of heating oil spilled from the tank at the Simply Oz pub at The Hill over the weekend.

Landlady Sue Robson, who has just bought the pub with husband David, arrived at the pub on Monday to meet a heating engineer and was confronted by Environment Agency officers investigating the leak.

Mrs Robson, 41 had just had the 2,000 litres of oil delivered on Saturday.

"I went down to the pub in the morning to be greeted by the heating engineer telling me I had no oil and the Environment Agency trying to find out where the leak was coming from," she said.

"The pipe from the tank had obviously been cut and it is a case of criminal damage."

Mrs Robson, who is to change the name of the pub to The Saladin, said she is more concerned about keeping the goodwill of villagers than the loss of the oil.

"We can claim back for the loss of the oil but it's the environment and the good will of the village I am more concerned about," she said.

The pub has been shut since June and Mr and Mrs Robson plan to re-open it in January.

The new name, The Saladin, comes from the name of the hot air balloon in which former MP Walter Powell, who lived in Little Somerford, travelled.

"Legend has it he disappeared in the balloon and was never seen again," said Mrs Robson.

Ben Woodhouse of the Environment Agency said wildlife seemed to have escaped harm. "The impact on the environment has been quite slight," he said.

"Probably the worst thing is the smell around the whole village because heating oil does smell quite bad when it gets out."

Agency officers have placed oil-absorbing booms across the stream. These will be regularly checked and will probably remain in place until the weekend.

PC Tim Peffers of Malmesbury Police said they were convinced the damage was deliberate and are investigating the incident.

Anyone with any information should contact Malmesbury police on (01249) 654455.