No smoking at new flats next to gas works

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The five-storey block is 15 metres from Bethnal Green Gas Works, a site rated as dangerous as Buncefield oil depot in Hertfordshire, which blew up in a fireball two years ago.

Despite the Health and Safety Executive warning there is "a real danger" of a similar blast, Tower Hamlets council is determined the flats should be built.

Councillors approved plans to put "No Smoking" and "No Barbecuing" signs in back gardens. Officials suggest installing shatterproof glass, and moving the building 3m further away.

A HSE spokesman called the measures "laughable", adding: "Their advisers have underestimated the risks. Buncefield ... was worse than the worst-case scenario predicted. Accidental gas escapes happen. To think it's Ok to build a high-rise block slap-bang on the doorstep of this gas holder is extraordinary."

The HSE's power to intervene has effectively been negated because the council forgot to consult it when planning permission was granted two years ago.

Tower Hamlets says the regeneration outweighs the "small" risk, and if the canalside development in The Oval is stopped, it will have to pay £10 million to developer Neptune.

Council head of planning Michael Kiely said adhering to the HSE's "strict" interpretation would cause a housing shortage.

The flats are due to be finished in spring. The council will discuss them again on 20 December. Neptune was unable to comment.