A TRIBUTARY of the River Wye turned white in a suspected chemical leak.

Around 450 metres of the Login Brook, which flows through Hay-on-Wye, were affected.

The incident caused the brook to turn white and gave the watercourse a strong chemical smell.

A team from Natural Resources Wales (NRW) deployed booms to contain the pollution.

Staff said that although no dead fish were found it was clear that invertebrates along the river were affected.

They are now carrying out a biological impact assessment to see judge the severity of the leak.

The pollution was traced to a nearby industrial site and NRW said they were "working with the business owners to find out what caused the incident".

However, they would not identify any individual company or business that may be at fault.

"This would jeopardise any future legal action we could take which would be dependant on the circumstances," NRW said in a statement.

"We will know more after we have finalised our investigation.

"The most important thing is that we try and prevent things from happening in the future - which is why we work with companies to help them help our amazing rivers and stream - which are so important for people and for wildlife.

"We do take action when it is warranted, in line with our enforcement policies, and publicise incidents and prosecutions so others can learn lessons.

"We also rely on people to tell us about the pollution they see so we can respond and can take steps to try and stop pollution in the future.

"You can report these to our incident hotline on 03000 65 3000."