User safety breaches force closure of Calor sites

Calor intends to close four public LNG refuelling facilities at major service stations due to what it described as “safety incidents caused by non-compliance”.

In a letter to customers seen by Commercial Motor, the company stated that LNG will no longer be available at the sites after 2pm on 31 December.

The stations in question are: Bristol (Severn View Services); Castle Donnington (Moto Services); Grantham (Moto Services) and Lymm (Lymm Truck Stop).

The letter said the company previously contacted customers on 23 November stating that it “continued to experience safety incidents caused by non-compliance with the training and procedures that all customers are required to follow at our LNG refuelling stations”.

The November communication also announced Calor’s plans to remotely monitor stations using on-site CCTV in an effort to “eradicate safety incidents”.  

It said CCTV monitoring had failed to curb “breaches of our training and procedures” and that the incidents had continued, even though it excluded one operator from the facilities and issued warnings to others.

“We believe we have done everything possible to eradicate these safety hazards but there remains an unacceptable level of risk to users of the LNG stations, our people and those living and working in the surrounding communities,” said the letter.

“[The move] follows our investigation and subsequent review to consider all options to eradicate safety hazards. We understand that this decision may come as a disappointment to some customers but we hope you appreciate that we cannot put people and property at risk from potential LNG leaks and the consequences thereof due to individuals failing to follow the correct health and safety procedures when using our refuelling installations.”