THE bacteria which causes Legionnaire's Disease has been found during maintenance work at Worcester fire station.

Engineers discovered the potentially fatal bacteria earlier this week in the internal water supply at the station on Deansway.

No one working in the station is thought to have contracted the disease, although it has an incubation period of up to 10 days.

Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigade spokesman Alec Mackie said health and safety checks had been carried out, and certain wash basins and showers were temporarily out of use.

He said the water supply affected was not connected to the main water supply.

"Those who are carrying out the work on this are satisfied with what's been done so far," he said.

No one had been sent home after the discovery, which affected half the station.

It was the first time such bacteria had been found there.

"The situation is under control and risks to all staff are being controlled in guidelines," said Stephen Griffiths, the brigade's health and safety adviser.

Legionnaire's Disease can cause pneumonia, and sufferers display flu-like symptoms such as headaches, high fever and coughs.

It is often spread through water supplies and can breed in cooling towers and other storage systems.