The new owners of the Waterston fuel depot have been urged to tackle concerns about the safety and environmental performance of the facility.

The call came from Preseli Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb last week when he met with senior management from the American firm SemGroup, which bought the depot from Petroplus earlier this year, to discuss future development plans for the site.

Since the massive explosions and fires at the Buncefield fuel depot in Hertfordshire last December, Stephen Crabb has sought assurances from Welsh Assembly ministers and SemGroup about the steps that can be taken to ensure that such a disaster never happens in Pembrokeshire.

Stephen told SemGroup he felt the depot "needs more than a lick of paint" and that significant investment needs to be made to improve environmental and safety management systems.

Commenting after the meeting, Stephen said: "I was greatly encouraged by my first meeting with the new owners of the Waterston fuel depot.

"The management team showed a genuine interest in improving relations with the local community and in terms of addressing past failures at the site, most notably the kerosene leak from tank 115."

He added: "I welcome SemGroup's long term interest in their new asset at Waterston and their desire to make a positive contribution to the local economy and to the community.

"I will be meeting with them again shortly to discuss in more detail their investment plans and what steps they will take to upgrade the safety aspects of the tank farms."