Didcot Power Station collapse: 'Appalling' wait for answers, MP says

Sadie Cresswell said it was love for her father that made her continue her fight for justice

The daughter of a worker who was killed in the Didcot Power Station collapse eight years ago has vowed to keep fighting until "justice is done".

Sadie Cresswell said her family would not be able to grieve until all questions about the death of her father, Ken, were answered.

Sarah Champion, MP for Rotherham where Mr Cresswell was from, described the wait as "appalling".

Police and the HSE said it was a "complex" investigation.

Mr Cresswell, 57, was one of four workers who died when the plant's boiler house collapsed on 23 February 2016.

John Shaw, 61, also from Rotherham, Michael Collings, 53, from Teesside, and Christopher Huxtable, 34, from Swansea, Wales, also died at the scene.

John Shaw, Christopher Huxtable, Michael Collings and Ken Cresswell (clockwise from top left) died in the collapse

Thames Valley Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) - who have been conducting a joint investigation - said they continued to investigate offences of corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter and health and safety offences.

Details about the investigation are yet to be disclosed.

The disused coal-fired plant was being prepared for demolition when its boiler house collapsed.

'We feel forgotten'

Ms Cresswell, who now lives near Swansea, said the wait, and not knowing when the investigation would end, had been "frustrating".

"It's been the worst eight years," the 32-year-old said.

"People move on with their lives - we're finding it so difficult to do that.

"As a family I don't think we've ever fully grieved and I don't think we will until justice is reached for him."

Ms Cresswell said justice would be done once she and her family were told why their loved ones went to work and never came home.

"You do feel a bit forgotten. I feel like they are forgotten because it's four working men that got killed there at work," she said.

The Didcot Power Station boiler house was set for demolition when it collapsed

At the time it took more than six months for the men's bodies to be recovered.

"We want this investigation to look at the ins and outs of demolition - make sure it never happens again - because we don't want to see a family like us on the news and their loved ones being lost," she said.

Ms Champion said: "It is appalling that, eight years on from the tragic deaths of four demolition workers at Didcot, their families and loved ones are still waiting for justice.

"No-one is underestimating the complexity of the investigation. But we need to see real progress towards a conclusion.

"The police and the Health and Safety Executive must commit all necessary resources to progress their investigation, something I have stressed time and time again for many years."

She added the families of the men who died "deserve the truth and have waited far too long".

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In a joint statement, Thames Valley Police and the HSE said they remained "totally committed to rigorously investigating the collapse".

They said the investigation was "significant and complex" but they were making "good progress".

Deputy Chief Constable Ben Snuggs, of Thames Valley Police, added: "It is our responsibility and duty to investigate thoroughly, following all reasonable lines of inquiry, and we will do everything we can to provide answers to the families."

Ms Creswell said it was the love for her father that made her continue her fight.

She said: "He did so much for us. We can't give up. We [sic] got to keep the hope."

A major incident was declared after the boiler house collapsed in 2016

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