BP said the cost of cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill - the biggest in US history - has risen to around $3.5bn.

The announcement about rising costs came as engineers worked to replace a cap over the well that ruptured a mile below the surface following an explosion on April 20 that killed 11 workers and sank the Deepwater Horizon rig.

More than 52,000 payments have been made out of 105,000 claims, totalling almost $165m.

Engineers are taking advantage of fine weather to install a new system - or 'Top Hat' - with the potential to capture all the leaking crude as it continue to drill relief wells.

See complete article at The Telegraph