THE ISLE of Wight oil spill control company which was used to mop up pollution from the MSC Napoli in Devon, pictured, has been sold for £2.3m.

Vikoma International, which designs and manufactures oil pollution control systems in Cowes has been snapped up by Energy Environmental (EE), a pollution solutions provider to the energy industry.

Vikoma's products are used to deal with oil spillages around the world, including last month's incident involving the stricken container ship MSC Napoli off Branscombe Beach in Devon.

The business, which has nearly 50 staff at its Island headquarters, includes governments, oil companies and all major oil spill response organisations among its customers.

Its roots can be traced back to the Torrey Canyon supertanker disaster in 1967, when 31 million gallons of oil leaked and wrought havoc on marine and bird wildlife along the English and French coasts.

Amid an international outcry, the incident prompted oil company BP to form a pollution response in the shape of Vikoma.

Southampton based lawyers Paris Smith & Randall advised EE on the deal, which was backed by funding from Clydesdale Bank.

Jonathon Roy corporate law specialist for Paris Smith & Randall said: "This was an important acquisition for Energy Environmental, whose owners have previous management experience within the Vikoma group and who have exciting plans for the enlarged Energy Environmental group."

EE's parent company Conder Environmental, which specialises in wastewater treatment equipment, is listed on junior stock market AIM.

Group operations director Peter Scholes said: "We were very pleased with the way Paris Smith & Randall handled the deal."

The Vikoma deal comes just days after Paris Smith & Randall helped with a £1.8m management buy-out at AMK, a transport specialist based in Liphook, Hampshire.