A tropical storm threatening to grow into a hurricane is heading towards America’s Gulf Coast.

BP downplayed the possibility of a catastrophic accident at an offshore oil rig that exploded and caused the worst spill in decades along America’s Gulf Coast, it emerged today.

Hundreds of hotel owners, fishermen and restaurateurs feared for their livelihoods today as a giant oil slick from a wrecked rig site oozed towards America’s Gulf Coast.