A major exercise to tackle a serious oil leak on Harwich beach has been put into action – as part of a training exercise.

Up to 50 people will work together to bring the incident under control and deal with the spillage as quickly as possible.

The training mission is set for March 9, and will bring together the emergency services, local authorities, port and harbour offices and counter-pollution contractors in the seven-hour long scenario.

It is part of a two-day long course from the Maritime Coastguard Agency being hosted by Tendring District Council.

Catherine Boyer-Besant, emergency planning officer at the council, said: “It gives everybody the opportunity to work as a team to test out exactly how they would react and cope with the various issues should an incident occur.”