Poole harbour oil spill washes up on wildlife haven Brownsea Island

Brownsea Island is one of the few places in southern England where indigenous red squirrels survive. Photograph: The National Trust Photolibrary/Alamy

Oil from the Perenco pipeline leak in Poole harbour has washed up on the shores of Brownsea Island, an internationally important wetland and marine conservation zone.

Nearly 200 barrels of reservoir fluid – a brine mixture that is about 15% oil – leaked into the waters of Ower Bay on Sunday from the pipeline sparking a major incident and urgent clean-up operation.