YORK'S top firefighter has given the rebuilt Fulford Place flats, ravaged by fire a year ago, his seal of approval.

A fire service report into the blaze last May raised serious questions about the "sandwich panel" construction of the roof.

But York fire chief Graham Buckle said today the rebuilt roof, while built using the same construction method, did now meet all the necessary building control regulations.

The Fulford Place flats were now "as safe as any other flats", he said.

Mr Buckle said experts from Taylor Woodrow, who built the flats, had worked closely with fire safety officers and city council building control specialists throughout the rebuilding of the flats.

"There have been regular inspections at every stage of the rebuild to make sure everything is as it should be," he said. "I am glad to say everything is exactly as it should be."

The problem with the original roof was that, while there were compartment walls within the roof to prevent fire spreading, they "were not properly finished", Mr Buckle said.

The conclusion of fire investigation officers, who examined the fire-damaged building, was that there had been "some breach of the building regulations", he said. Some fire resistant boards which lined the compartment walls "were not in place to the required standard".

In the rebuilt flats, however, the compartment walls had been completed exactly as they should be, he said.

Taylor Woodrow confirmed yesterday they had also installed smoke detectors inside the new roof, to give early warning of any possible fire.

But the company insisted the original roof had complied with building control requirements at the time.

A spokesman for the company said: "We built the building in accordance with the building regulations."

Since last year's fire, firefighters in North Yorkshire have been given new guidelines on how to tackle fires in roofs that have a sandwich panel-style construction.

A City of York Council spokesperson said: "The council's Building Control team continues to work very closely with Taylor Woodrow Construction to ensure that all necessary fire safety measures are in place.

"A number of additional measures over and above the requirements of building regulations have been included, with the agreement of Taylor Woodrow Construction. This is a consequence of the comments and recommendations within the various reports relating to the incident.

"The work is being closely inspected on site to a level far greater than the statutory inspections normally required by building regulations and a number of joint inspections have been made with North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

"When complete, the reinstated blocks will achieve a greater level of fire safety than would normally be required by the building regulations and associated legislation."

The first residents of the fire-devastated block are due to begin moving in at the start of next month.

A second wave will move in during August.

Updated: 09:48 Saturday, May 13, 2006