Fawley Refinery: 'Operational incident' declared at site

An “operational incident” has been declared at an oil refinery in southern England, with flares seen by people from miles away.

ExxonMobil said that it was dealing with the incident on its Fawley site in Hampshire on Tuesday evening.

A spokesperson told the BBC no-one had been reported injured, adding its teams were “working to address the situation”.

They said the flares were part of its standard safety procedures.

An on-site siren might also be audible as part of those procedures, the spokesperson added.

The firm said its flares would be “visible to the community” and apologised for any disturbance.

Justine Edwards shared images of the flares from outside her balcony on the Isle of Wight – about 25 miles away.

She told the BBC she was “taking a photo of the blood Moon while there was a gap in clouds”, and she saw a “big orange glow”.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service said it could not comment on the incident.