Just over a year after a leak from Harper Adams' recently installed AD plant sprang a leak that polluted local water courses, emergency services have been called out to another incident in a separate area of the plant.

After a leak in a storage tank in February 2013, another structure that makes up the Shropshire University's plant – a processing tank – has been damaged this week, causing a "mountain of slurry to leak out," according to witnesses

Just over a year after a leak from Harper Adams' AD plant in Shropshire

Statement from the Vice Chancellor of Harper Adams University College regarding this morning’s AD incident: “We were made aware of an incident within one of the processing tanks of the AD plant early this morning. The relevant authorities were then informed.

“After checking that no one had been hurt, our priority was to make the site safe for the workforce and begin the process of establishing what happened and what damage had occurred, while taking all possible steps to minimise any impact on the surrounding environment.

“The incident has been contained on a small section of the Harper Adams estate – none of the digestate has reached the public highway.

“The Environment Agency is now working with Harper Adams to assess and clean up the site.

“The police and fire services were alerted by the Environment Agency. The fire service is on standby to assist if necessary. The police have closed the road to allow work to progress unhindered.

“Business will continue as normal elsewhere. Students have been alerted to the road closure to allow them to take alternative routes and give themselves plenty of time to reach the campus for end of year exams.”

According to the local paper the Shropshire Star today’s apparent blow out of a processing tank is thought to have happened on a different area to last year’s incident. In February 2013 digestate started leaking from a faulty storage tank.

An onlooker told the paper: “The plant is made up of about six main structures and one, a 30ft high corrugated metal building at the back of the plant, has had virtually all of one side apparently blown out.

“There is a huge mountain of slurry piled up inside which has poured from the building onto a farm track and part of the roof has collapsed.”

The university said it could not say how much waste had leaked out of the tank, which is situated about half a mile from the main university buildings.