A Ruan Minor man has been praised after his quick thinking prevented a "potential environmental disaster".

After spotting a crack in the oil tank at his home Geoffrey Jenkin’s actions helped stop 700 litres of oil from spilling.

On one of the hottest days of the year the 1,000 litre tank had expanded before cracking as it contracted in the early evening.

After calling Penryn-based Blue Flame Heating Solutions’ emergency response team, Mr Jenkin stemmed the flow by using a silicon sealant and then securing a piece of material in place with tape.

Blue Flame response team engineer, Andrew Thurgate, was on site first and assessed the situation before calling for a new tank.

Vaughan Williams, electrical manager at Blue Flame, said: “Mr Jenkin’s quick thinking really did save the day. Had the crack developed any more, the oil would have spilled out into the street and across to neighbouring properties.

“If this had happened the Environment Agency would have had to be involved and potentially the road surface would have had to be replaced.

“As well as the environmental impact, Mr Jenkin’s quick actions have saved a lot of work and money.”

Once the donor tank was delivered the Blue Flame team transferred the oil from the ruptured tank and reconnected to the supply to Mr Jenkin’s home.

Coastline Housing’s head of technical services, Mark England added: “We are really pleased that Mr Jenkin acted so quickly to report the problem to our heating contractor Blue Flame.

“This allowed the engineers to quickly remedy the situation and avoid a larger scale environmental incident.”