HEALTH and safety bosses have launched a probe into allegations Worcester City Council has flouted safety legislation.

The council failed to check gas appliances at a block of flats in Tolladine due to an administrative blunder.

Tenants at the flats in Lilac Avenue are now considering whether to sue the authority, claiming it had endangered their health.

"I've had two gas leaks in my flat. I could have been asphyxiated by methane and carbon monoxide gas - or the place could have gone bang," said resident Kim Storr.

She believed her dog had become sick as a result of gas seeping into the flat, though she had not been ill.

Miss Storr alleged that the council had not carried out a check for up to three years, as her boiler had a notice on it dated 1998.

By law, tenants must receive a safety certificate each year.

"The council has told us an administrative error was to blame," said another resident, Victoria Roberts.

"How do other tenants know they're safe?"

The residents have called the Health & Safety Executive as well as Worcester MP Mike Foster.

Tom Cleary, an HSE inspector, said the organisation was investigating the issue. He declined to comment on whether a prosecution was possible.

Iain Harkess, Worcester City Council's housing manager, was unable to confirm that the gas network at the flats had been neglected for three years.

But he admitted checks were not carried out last year.

"It was an administrative mistake that shouldn't have happened," he said, adding the council had sub-contracted the safety programme.

"Our investigation shows some properties in Lilac Avenue were due for new central heating.

"When they got replacement central heating, a new safety certificate would be issued, so they were taken off the service list."

But the flats in question were not due new heating and should not have been deleted from the safety programme.

"We've since checked the flats and found nothing was faulty, so nobody was at risk," Mr Harkess said.