The brewery at the centre of a large acid spill early this morning has thanked emergency services for their swift action.

What has been described as a "significant quantity" of hydrochloric acid was spilled at the Sharp's Brewery factory near Rock - which the brewery has since gone to confirm was just under 1,000 litres.

A 999 call was made just before 7.30am, with firefighters from Wadebridge, Delabole and Bodmin sent along along with specialist officers in hazardous materials and environmental protection.

Andrew Madden, head of supply chain at Sharp’s Brewery, has since said: “At approximately 7.20am on Monday, August 10 under 1,000 litres of hydrochloric acid was spilled within the brewery premises in Rock, Cornwall which has been fully contained to site.

"There is no risk to the wider community or environment and there were no injuries.

"Our team immediately deployed all the well-rehearsed, necessary measures for an incident of this type and followed all guidelines and procedures as appropriate.

"As a precautionary measure, and in line with these procedures, we alerted the emergency services, and the relevant authorities including the Environment Agency and Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, who immediately attended site, confirmed containment and with whom we are collectively working through the post-incident process.

"I would like to thank my team for their immediate, and exemplary, action on this incident and also thank the emergency services for their swift action and assistance.”

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service said that firefighters left the company arranging for a specialist contractor to clean up the spillage.

A spokesperson said: "At 7.29am we received a 999 call from a industrial unit near Rock, North Cornwall, where a spillage has occurred involving a significant quantity of hydrochloric acid.

"Three appliances from Wadebridge, Delabole and Bodmin were mobilised, along with an environmental support vehicle and support pump from Saltash, and an incident command unit from Launceston.

"An area manager [was] the incident commander and assisted on scene with a hazardous materials and environmental protection advisor and command support officer."

A hazardous materials and environmental protection advisor was also providing tactical advice in the Critical Control Centre.