Demolition work nears four months after Rotherham men lost in Didcot collapse

DEMOLITION work to bring down the remains of a collapsed power station where two Rotherham men have been lost for more than four months could finally be about to begin.

The bodies of Ken Cresswell (57) and colleague John Shaw (61) have been missing in the rubble of Didcot power station since it collapsed on February 23.

Now, more than four months on, the site’s owners RWE nPower has decided it will use explosives to bring down the rest of the building and its proposals are currently being reviewed with relatives hopeful work can get underway soon.

Mr Cresswell’s wife Gail (58), of Middle Lane, Clifton, said: “We went to the site for three days to see what they had done and everything is near enough sorted now.

“It’s just a case of getting the papers signed and then it’s all set to go.”

Grandfather-of-two Ken and Mr Shaw, from Kimberworth, and their colleague Christopher Huxtable (34), from Wales have been trapped under the 20,000 tonnes of rubble for four months.

But rescue work was halted for the second time on May 16 when contractors reached a 50-metre exclusion zone around the remaining part of the building as the company said it was “too dangerous”.

RWE nPower then developed two recovery options to bring down the rest of the building — either using remote operated vehicles (ROVs) to plant explosive chargers, or using workers to go in and place them.

The company said its preferred option was to use ROVs as it “limited the risk to life” and are “reviewing the plan with experts.”

A spokeswoman added: “The conditions caused by the collapse are unprecedented at this scale in the UK.

“Given these extraordinary circumstances, and in order to minimise the risk of any further incidents, it is necessary to bring down the remaining structure to be able to continue the recovery of the men.

“We have a clear recovery plan in place which has been aligned with all agencies involved and have already completed several stages of it.”

She said a start date for the demolition was yet to be confirmed and added: “We understand that the time taken to recover the families’ loved ones is deeply upsetting.

“We are in close contact with them, providing information and regular updates.

“Our priority remains the recovery of the missing men and we are doing everything that is within our power to ensure it is progressed as fast and safely as possible.”