Francis Maude’s advice to motorists to store jerry cans of petrol in their garages is wrong and must be withdrawn the Fire Brigades Union has said. The union warns it will massively increase fire and explosion risk and the public should be discouraged from doing so.
Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary said:
“This is not sensible advice and people should be discouraged from doing so. The general public does not properly understand the fire and explosion risk of storing fuel even if it was done sensibly.
“Those without garages may be tempted to store fuel in the home. In the event of a fire in the house or a neighbouring property it would be disastrous.
“It is already against the law to store more than 10 litres of petrol in two proper 5 litre plastic containers in the home. As that amounts to little more than a third of a tank in most cars the advice is of little practical help.
“There is a real danger the public will start storing fuel in inappropriate ways if the Government is encouraging panic buying and storage. This advice is wrong and must be withdrawn.”
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