VILLAGERS are demanding safety reassurances following a chemical blast near York.

As fire crews continued to dampen the destroyed BCB Environmental Management building in Tockwith, some residents asked why they were not warned about the thick black cloud of smoke from the hazardous fire before it descended on the village yesterday morning.

Coun John Savage, who represents the area on North Yorkshire County Council, said he had written a letter to Harrogate Borough Council about what he claimed was an apparent lack of contingency plans despite previous fires at the waste plant.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said officers knocked on doors to tell people to stay inside and keep their windows shut as is procedure, but none of the residents interviewed by The Press had been given any information.

Coun Savage said: “Despite BCB being there for five or six years, there didn’t seem to be any contingency plans for an emergency as we saw yesterday.

“I’m glad I was there to see what wasn’t being done... given that this is something that all of Tockwith has been dreading.”

Coun Savage said it was “deplorable” debris from the burning building that had fallen in gardens and public spaces in the village had not been cleaned up.

The Environment Agency said responsibility lay with Harrogate Borough Council. The council confirmed it would send a crew to clear The Green playing fields on the Prince Ruperts Drive today.

In a letter to Wallace Sampson, chief executive of Harrogate Borough Council, Coun Savage said: “To be frank the whole area should have been evacuated.

“Was there ever an emergency plan for this area, especially after two previous fires at BCB?”

A spokeswoman for Harrogate Borough Council said the council had a “very robust” emergency response plan for evacuating people and the emergency services were responsible for giving warnings and deciding if evacuation was appropriate.

BCB Environmental Management defended its safety record in yesterday’s edition of The Press.

A spokesman for the business said: “There is no question about the safety record of BCB Environmental Management, otherwise it wouldn’t have a licence. The Environment Agency doesn’t take risks and doesn’t allow operators to take risks.”

The company was unable to comment last night.