'Unsafe' claims at Lindsey Oil Refinery dismissed

Unite boss Sharon Graham has written to the government about safety concerns

The Official Receiver has dismissed union claims that an oil refinery is at "serious risk of a major accident" due to staffing levels.

Lindsey Oil Refinery, in North Killingholme, North Lincolnshire, was taken over by the government's Insolvency Service in June after its owner, Prax Group, went into administration, putting 420 jobs at risk.

Unite the union said the financial retention package for safety critical refinery workers needed to be "significantly improved" to stop them leaving.

A spokesperson for the Insolvency Service said: "There is no truth in Unite's claims that Lindsey Oil Refinery is unsafe."

They added: "The Official Receiver's first priority remains ensuring the safety of the refinery and its workers [and] he is working closely with the company's management and the Health and Safety Executive and is confident in the measures which are in place."

Negotiations were also taking place with a number of parties to progress bids with the objective of achieving a sale of the business, the spokesperson added.

Union officials claim Lindsey Oil Refinery is at "serious risk of a major accident" due to staffing levels

It comes after Unite's general secretary Sharon Graham wrote to Energy Security Ed Miliband to share the union's concerns.

In the letter, she said: "Workers on site have informed union representatives they are keeping their options open and are not planning to work their notice period, but simply leave at the end of a pay period.

"Unite believes the financial package to retain staff during the winddown is insufficient to ensure the minimum safe staffing levels, particularly if it looks like the refinery does not have a future," Ms Graham said.

She also said it was "essential" for the workers who remained to have experience and the appropriate qualifications.

"We do not believe this is currently the case," she added.

Ms Graham's letter likened the consequences of a major incident at the North Lincolnshire refinery to the BP Texas City refinery explosion in 2005 and the Pembroke refinery explosion in the UK in 2011.

Both incidents saw multiple fatalities.

"The lives that could be lost, livelihoods destroyed, the environmental and infrastructure damage that could be done to the site and everything around it is frightening," Ms Graham wrote.

Ms Graham said union representatives were due to meet with the energy secretary next week.

Those impacted by redundancies are due to be informed by no later than the end of September, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices