Removal & Decommissioning
Oil Tank Removal & Cold CuttingUnderground Tank RemovalsTank DecommissioningDecommissioning & Foam FillingPlant & Machinery RemovalWaste Oil DisposalInstall, Clean & Maintain
Commercial Fuel Tank InstallationOil & Fuel Tank CleaningFuel PolishingOil Tank InspectionsUltrasonic Thickness TestingOil Tank RefurbishmentEnvironmental Services View all services →
Britteco takes out, cleans and replaces commercial oil and diesel tanks in Staffordshire, from rail-served warehouses near Penkridge and Lichfield to brewing yards in Burton upon Trent and dairy farms around Leek. Crews set out from our Banbury base to decommission redundant tanks, clear sludge and water, and fit new bunded units.
Freight is the biggest fuel user in the south of the county. West Midlands Interchange at Four Ashes, beside junction 12 of the M6, was consented in 2020 for rail-served warehousing on the West Coast Main Line, and Fradley Park outside Lichfield already holds distribution centres for Tesco, DHL, Screwfix and ASOS. Shunters, sprinkler pumps and standby generators there draw from bulk diesel tanks that must stay dry.
Further north the land rises into the Moorlands. Holcim makes cement at Cauldon near Waterhouses, Tarmac digs clay and shale at Keele and Kingsley, and JCB has built machines at Rocester since 1950. Plant fuel here takes a beating from dust and condensation, so filters block and older steel tanks thin at the seams.
Oil heating matters more than the county average suggests. Across Staffordshire 3.5% of households use oil alone, rising to 7.6% in Staffordshire Moorlands and 6.0% in Stafford borough. Dairy farms that sell through Leek market, village workshops and estates still run kerosene boilers and red diesel tractors from tanks that are often decades old.
Four stages cover almost every visit, whether the tank sits in a warehouse yard or behind a farmhouse.
Sorted roughly by how often each service comes up in the county.
Run out of heating oil or diesel in Staffordshire?
24/7 emergency heating oil, kerosene and diesel delivery from 100 litres, including nights, weekends and bank holidays.
Staffordshire sits in the Environment Agency’s West Midlands area, and almost all of it drains to the River Trent through the Dove, the Sow and the Tame. Burton upon Trent knows the risk: the Agency spent more than £30 million on its defences, finished in 2022, after properties there flooded in February 2020. Under much of the south lies Sherwood Sandstone, which South Staffordshire Water taps for public supply, so a weeping tank can threaten drinking water as well as rivers.
Any business storing more than 201 litres of oil is covered by the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001. The tank needs secondary containment holding at least 110% of its capacity, with taps, valves and sight gauges inside that bund or locked shut. GPP2 guidance adds siting advice, such as keeping tanks away from drains, ditches and private boreholes.
When we remove, clean or decommission a Staffordshire tank you get the waste transfer or consignment note for everything that left site, plus a disposal or degassing certificate. Keep them for the Environment Agency, a buyer’s surveyor or your insurer.
Every part of the county is covered; these are places our crews visit often.
Yes. We are not based in the county, but our crews come from Banbury with the tanker, pumps and cold-cutting kit to clear a tank in one visit, from Cannock and Tamworth to the Moorlands villages around Leek.
Stop filling it, put drip trays or absorbent under the weep and call us. We pump the remaining oil into a sound container, remove the tank and arrange a replacement. Keep leaking oil out of drains and ditches.
Water settles at the bottom of a red diesel tank, and diesel bug grows where fuel and water meet, leaving black sludge that blocks tractor filters. We draw off the water, vacuum out the sludge, clean the shell and polish the fuel that is worth keeping.
Mostly the tank’s size and material, how much oil or sludge is left, and how easily a vehicle can reach it. Underground or basement tanks take more work. Photos and the capacity let us quote before booking the day.
Our focus is commercial, but we do take on household tanks. See our page on replacing or removing a home oil tank for how a domestic job works.
Neighbouring areas are covered by the same Banbury crews.
Tell us where the tank is, what it holds and roughly how big it is. We will come back with a method and a date that fits your yard, farm or works.
