HC Deb 11 December 1957 vol 579 cc1252-3
32. Mr. Hayman

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will cause an inquiry to be instituted into the explosion staged by the Royal Engineers at Carnkie, Redruth, Cornwall, on 1st December, which, though conforming to the rules, caused unexpected blast damage, with a view to finding out whether the technical calculations need revision.

Mr. J. Amery

Yes, Sir. Preliminary inquiries have already been made which indicate that the damage was caused by a freak effect of the explosion. A more detailed investigation will be made, and we shall examine the current regulations in light of what is discovered.

Mr. Hayman

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that reply, but might I remind him that his predecessor wrote to me two years ago about a somewhat similar mishap in another part of my constituency? Will he give an assurance that no further demonstrations of this kind will take place until he has received a report and had time to come to a decision upon it?

Mr. Amery

That is a rather different question. If the hon. Gentleman would like to give me notice of it, I will certainly look into it.