Experts say an oil spill off the Kent coast is no longer expected to reach the shore.

It appeared 12 nautical miles away, off North Foreland in Broadstairs yesterday, and pollution experts and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) have been trying to work out where it came from.

It was expected to reach the coast in Deal yesterday but today efforts to contain it from spreading further look to have been successful.

A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: “We believe we have now identified the source of the oil observed on the water off the Kent coast over the past few days and are in process of putting together a robust containment plan to ensure the oil will not reach our shores or harm the local wildlife in any way.

“We are confident that we are not looking at a large spill but one that is manageable for our expert teams.

"We are really pleased by the collective efforts of all of our emergency response partners in Kent.”

Two large vessels have been sent with high-speed containment, decanting and recovery systems to capture as much of the oil as possible – and have been in action since early Friday morning.

The latest model shows that, due to changing offshore winds, the oil slick is no longer estimated to reach land – coming within five nautical miles of the coast near Dover this evening, before continuing to move away from shore.

A potential source has been found on the seabed, but investigations by the Counter Pollution Team to confirm this are ongoing.

The focus remains on the clean-up operation.

The MCA says it is continuing to monitor the situation through regular surveillance flights and will update its response plan as new information comes in.

The first report of a possible oil slick was made by a Royal Navy vessel yesterday.

"This is an alarming incident which has happened during National Marine Week ..."

Further investigations were then carried out to establish what the substance is and how much there is.

Experts say all indications show the slick is oil and it is not a continuous stream and there are no signs it came from a pipeline release.

After hearing about the spill in Thanet, Kent Wildlife Trust raised concerns over what it could mean for seal colonies nearby.

It says oil can affect seals’ insulation abilities and they risk catching hypothermia if they get covered in it.

The charity is now inviting people in Thanet to join beach cleans over the coming weeks.

Those wishing to take part can meet at The Botany Bay in Kingsdown on Sunday, July 31, The Marine in Tankerton on Sunday, August 7 and The Royal Albion in Broadstairs on Sunday, August 14.

More people than usual were in Deal town last night as hundreds attended Deal's annual carnival parade.