Nearly £17billion pounds have been wiped off BP shares as an oil spill that is threatening to eclipse the Exxon Valdez disaster spread out of control and started washing ashore along America's Gulf Coast early today. Fishermen rushed to scoop up shrimp and crews spread floating barriers around marshes in a desperate attempt to stave off an environmental disaster. BP was also facing financial disaster as the company lost £16.9billion in market value and U.S. President Barack Obama announced they will foot the bill for the clean-up. The company is currently bleeding £4million a day as the crisis spreads out of control. In the end, the disaster could cost billions. But the threat to life along the Louisiana coast - and the devastating repercussions for the local economy - threatened to be even greater. The spill was bigger than imagined - and closer. Five times more oil than BP estimated is gushing into the ocean each day – about 5,000 barrels, or 210,000 gallons. (Daily Mail)