Accusations of council penny-pinching.. and probe reveals SNP's data to be wrong and out of date

HUNDREDS of Scottish tenants are living in high-rise flats vulnerable to catastrophic gas explosions, a Sunday Mail investigation can reveal.

- BY DAN VEVERS

Residents have demanded an urgent national review and safety improvements in the wake of our probe into buildings constructed using the prefabricated concrete Large Panel System (LPS).

Official government advice issued after the 1968 Ronan Point disaster in London - where a tower block collapsed in an explosion killing five - called for mains gas to be removed from all LPS high-rises.

But nearly 60 years on, we found potentially dozens of complexes across Scotland still supplied by piped gas.

We also found glaring inaccuracies in a 2020 Scottish Government report suggesting Ministers don't know the true scale of the problem.

Margaret Feeney, 70, who lives in South Lanarkshire Council-owned Sherry Heights in Cambuslang, said: “I remember I was at school when these were built. I think these buildings have been forgotten about.”

Asked if she was surprised the council hadn't had the building’s mains gas removed, she added: "To me, it’s just typical. It’s all money, money, money. They don't care about the actual individuals who live here. The safety of these buildings is definitely something I think about and it's not just me.

“My daughter, if she hears anything about the fire brigade being out, she’s right on the phone.”

Margaret moved to Sherry Heights seven years ago to take care of her late dad and lives on the seventh-floor of the 72-flat block.

She added: “Since the 2017 Grenfell tragedy, the housing bosses have taken some steps to boost safety at Sherry Heights including installing new fire doors.

“But the block still has a mains gas supply despite the council insisting alternative heating could be considered in future works.

David Clark, 65, who has lived in a top-floor flat at Sherry Heights since 2017, called his experience as “terrible”. The biker, who is moving to Spain, said: “I'm out of here. Someone else can have it. It doesn't surprise me the council never got the gas removed.”