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Britteco replaces, removes and cleans heating oil, kerosene and diesel tanks for farms, estates and rural businesses around Hereford, Leominster and Ledbury. Crews set out from our Banbury base with the pumps, cutting gear and new bunded tanks to finish the job in one planned visit.
Few parts of England lean on oil heating as heavily. The 2021 Census found 16.2% of Herefordshire households heat with oil alone, against roughly 3% for the West Midlands as a whole. Behind that figure sits a working countryside of farmhouses, cottages let to staff, village halls and small workshops, many fed from one kerosene tank in the yard. Plenty of those tanks are single-skin steel or early plastic units now at the end of their life.
Farming drives most of the fuel storage here. Strawberries and other soft fruit grown under polytunnels, potatoes on the heavier clay, beef cattle and a large poultry sector all rely on red diesel for tractors, pumps and loaders, and on heating oil for packhouses and sheds. Orchards supply the cider works in Hereford and at Much Marcle, and processing on that scale brings boiler and generator fuel with it.
Industry clusters at Skylon Park, the enterprise zone at Rotherwas, where dozens of firms have moved in since 2013. To the north, Leinthall Earls quarry can extract up to 2,000 tonnes of stone a day, so plant diesel is stored on site. Each kind of site gives us a different job, from a leaking farm tank to a sludge-heavy plant bowser.
Most Herefordshire calls are about swapping a tired tank for a new one, so the steps are built around keeping heat and machinery running.
Ordered by how often rural and commercial sites in the county ask for them.
Run out of heating oil or diesel in Herefordshire?
24/7 emergency heating oil, kerosene and diesel delivery from 100 litres, including nights, weekends and bank holidays.
Herefordshire falls within the Environment Agency’s West Midlands area, and its two main rivers are under close watch. In May 2023 Natural England downgraded the River Wye and River Lugg protected sites to “unfavourable – declining” because of nutrient pollution. A split tank or overfilled bund near a ditch adds oil to a catchment that is already struggling, so regulators and landowners take escapes seriously.
Flooding is the other risk. During Storm Dennis in February 2020 the Wye reached 6.11 metres at Hereford’s Old Wye Bridge, the highest level in roughly 200 years of records, and floodwater reached the edge of Thorn Business Park. In 2007 the Lugg overtopped at Hampton Bishop. Tanks on low ground need firm anchoring and vents above likely water levels.
Business premises storing more than 201 litres must follow the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001, with a bund holding 110% of the tank’s capacity. Farm fuel may fall under separate agricultural rules, and we can explain which apply. Every job ends with waste transfer or consignment notes and a certificate of disposal or degassing certificate.
From the cider country in the east to the Welsh border hills in the west.
Stop filling it, put absorbent down and move any loose fuel away from drains and watercourses. Call us and we will pump out what is left, take the tank away and fit a bunded replacement. A leak from the base usually means corrosion or a split, and those do not repair well.
It depends on the tank size, the route in for the new unit and how much fuel and sludge has to be handled. We give a fixed quote once we have photos and the details. Tight gateways or long hose runs are the usual reasons one job differs from another.
Yes. We cover Leominster, Kington and the farms in between, as well as the rest of the county. The tank is emptied, cut on site if needed and removed, and you receive a certificate of disposal.
Agricultural fuel storage has its own rules, separate from the 2001 Regulations that cover businesses. In practice most new farm diesel tanks are bunded anyway, because it protects ditches and the Wye catchment. We can check your current set-up and advise.
Yes, homeowners are a small part of our work. Our page on replacing a home heating oil tank explains siting, bunds and the certificates you receive.
Neighbouring counties are served by the same engineers.
Tell us what the tank holds, how big it is and where it stands. We will come back with a method, a fixed price and a date that fits around the farm or business.
