RELATIVES of victims of the Maryhill disaster welcomed Lord Gill's report but called for an end to Britain's "soft touch" health and safety regime.

RELATIVES of victims of the Maryhill disaster welcomed Lord Gill's report but called for an end to Britain's "soft touch" health and safety regime.

The ICL Support Group - representing the families of five of the nine victims - said the Health and Safety Executive's role in the disaster had been overlooked.

It said: "While we do believe the truth has come out in the inquiry as to what caused the explosion, we are concerned the inquiry did not examine the wider health and safety failings we believe could have led to an unhealthy safety culture in this workplace.

"The time has come for the HSE to accept that soft touch' regulation does not work and for workers throughout the UK to have confidence that health and safety regulators have employers quaking in their boots."

Kirsteen Murray, whose brother Kenneth, 45, died in the tragedy, said she was disappointed no-one would accept responsibility for the failings which caused the explosion.

Ian Tasker, assistant secretary of the STUC, said the disaster could have been avoided if the company had spent just a few hundred pounds on pipe repairs.

Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy, who met the families of the victims yesterday, said they had suffered an "unimaginable loss".