here in the UK a major incident has been declared after a toxic chemical spill in a canal in wal near Birmingham the public have been warn to avoid a 12mile stretch of the canal Network let's take you to Joe Black who is there for us Joe what happened we're not quite sure at the moment the investigation into what happened is ongoing but a major incident has been declared and as you can see behind me there are police here there are people who've been walking around in high visibility jackets just over the road there is some police tape it's across the entrance to the canal and the toe path meaning people can't go down towards the canal and if you just look down there you can see dead fish in the water it's just a rough estimate but we think we can see around a hundred fish from here and obviously there will be others reported elsewhere along the canal and The Spill the toxic spill we are told was discovered on Monday as I say in investig is ongoing and we believe water testing is taking place some of the people in high visibility jackets that we saw uh one of them did have a very long pole with a metal Beaker and another one was carrying something like a cool bag something like that you put your sandwiches in on a very hot day so those water tests uh should be ongoing results of those uh we hope we'll find out soon the council leader wal Council leader Gary Perry has confirmed the substance as sodium cyanide now we understand and that chemical can cause seizures vomiting and loss of consciousness and as you were just saying there the public have been told to avoid a 12mile stretch of the canal Network which runs from wolw where we are now to Birmingham but also taking in wbury Tipton and West brommage now this chemical we understand is used uh in industry for things like metal cleaning plating and photography it dissolves in the water and if you come into contact with it it can be risky so it could be risky to people and their pets and anyone who is concerned has been told to contact the local NHS 111 or 999 if there is an emergency the authorities say they're working as cautiously and as quickly as they can and hopefully the restrictions will be reduced once they feel like they've got a grip on the situation Joe thank you so much for updating us