FUEL and oil tanks underneath a new Stourport car park could cause explosions or fires, according to a mechanic whose garage used to be based on the site.

But Wyre Forest District Council has rejected the claims and insists that the site is safe.

Paul Mitchell has labelled the underground containers “a danger to the public” and claimed that vents, which he says have now been blocked, could create a build up of “highly combustible gas fumes” capable of being ignited by a hot catalytic converter on a parked vehicle.

The business owner, who ran Lloyds Garage on the Bridge Street land before it was compulsorily purchased by Wyre Forest District Council and turned into a temporary car park, called for proof of the site’s safety to be made public.

He said the tanks should have been removed or filled with slurry to make sure they were safe but the council admits that was not done because there was nothing to suggest the site was dangerous.

Mr Mitchell, who also expressed fears the local water course could be polluted, said: “I certainly won’t be parking my car there and I guess a lot of councillors won’t be either.

“My only worry is the safety of local people so I am following it through and passing on my concerns.

“If the council says the car park is safe then we have got to assume it is, but if anything goes wrong the local authority is then accountable.”

The 61-year-old added that Wyre Forest District Council “doesn’t have to live by the same standards we have to”, claiming formal decommissioning of the tanks would have been compulsory if he had wanted to turn the site into a car park.

Councillor John Campion, the district council’s cabinet member for planning and economic regeneration, however strongly defended the council’s actions, labelling the matter a “non-story” and stating work to create the car park had “not disturbed the tanks”, “nothing had changed” and the vents had not been blocked.

He said: “Wyre Forest District Council was fully aware of the presence of the underground tanks from surveys we had completed and the demolition of buildings to form the temporary car park did not disturb the tanks.

“The containers have existed in their current state beneath a busy garage and nothing has changed apart from surface buildings being removed.

“When the site is developed as part of a future use further investigations will take place.”

The Conservative also praised the project’s broader aim to open up Stourport town centre.

“The temporary car park in Bridge Street not only provides a great glimpse of the historic basins in Stourport that have previously lain hidden, but also the potential for the town’s future when the site is developed.”