WIRRAL South MP Ben Chapman says he will call for the closure of the GATX Terminals plant in Eastham unless he receives top-level assurances that there will be no further leaks from the site.

Speaking exclusively to the Globe, Mr Chapman said the safety of the community was his main concern as public anger at GATX continued to grow. 23 people needed hospital treatment when toxic gas escaped from the storage site in Bankfields Drive on January 28.

"There has been a great deal of alarm about this," Mr Chapman told us. "The company is currently looking into what happened, but if their assurances are not adequate I will have to consider whether it is feasible for them to continue operating on that site."

Local residents say they were not told of the dangers for almost three hours after the leak was discovered at 11am, and many claim the company has made no contact with local people since 1994.

The incident caused the temporary closure of every Accident & Emergency service in Wirral, a fact which particularly concerns Mr Chapman. "That is simply not acceptable. Paramedics were clearly not briefed about the dangers of what they were dealing with."

The majority of those injured were medical staff who had been wrongly told that it was safe to enter the site. Wirral Council, the emergency services and GATX officials are currently investigating the spillage.

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