A FLY-TIPPER is believed to have struck again after five barrels of a highly toxic chemical were found dumped at the base of a footbridge.

The latest discovery came the day after a similar incident caused a full-scale chemical scare at South Bank, near Middlesbrough.

The 50-gallon blue containers, marked benzyl chloride, were removed while investigations were carried out to discover where the barrels came from.

A fire brigade spokeswoman said: "Another five drums were found at the bottom of a footbridge near Asda, in South Bank, and we have taken them away to be analysed. It looks like the same people dumped them."

Yesterday, the stream at the centre of Sunday's scare was given the all-clear by the Environment Agency, which made sure none of the chemicals leaked into the waterway.

An agency spokesman said: "As far as we are aware, the site was cleared up and nothing appears to have gone in to the stream, and there was no evidence of the chemical leaking.

"The water level had dropped so our officers were able to investigate the site thoroughly, and it appears the drums were empty."

On Sunday, firefighters and police were busy for four hours while the site was secured, and a road was closed for three-and-a-half hours following the discovery at about 9am.

Firefighters donned chemical suits and masks to investigate the contents of the drums, backed up by two fire tenders from Grangetown fire station, an emergency tender from Coulby Newham, an environment protection unit and an appliance from Hartlepool.

The drums were loaded in to containers, which were taken away by staff from a specialist company.