A shattered community remains desperate for answers six months on from a devastating blast which ripped through four homes.
Residents of Kincaidston are still in the dark over what caused the blast which rocked the entire Ayr estate — leaving a family of four in hospital with serious injuries.
Ayrshire Live can now reveal that inspectors leading the probe for the Health and Safety Executive still have no answers to what caused the horrific explosion in Gorse Park on October 18 last year.
We have learned that the “report will not be published” and that those affected by the blast will have to overcome Freedom of Information constraints.
It means victims face another hurdle to know why their homes were destroyed or their property severely damaged.
And a community campaigner fears victims will be in an ‘insurance limbo’ with companies refusing to pay out until a clear cause of the devastating event is confirmed.
HSE have told how a number of lines of enquiry have been pursued and say they are yet to make a decision on whether any criminal charges will come from their enquiries.
A spokesperson for HSE told Ayrshire Live: “It is not uncommon for an incident of this magnitude and complexity to take a long time to investigate.
"There are a number of lines of enquiry HSE has been pursuing and a decision on whether to submit a report to the Procurator Fiscal will be made in due course.”
Resident Robert Dunn called for change in the days that followed the explosion after fears that a gas fault was to blame.
Now Robert has called for HSE to give the community answers after a winter of discontent.
Robert, who runs the Kincaidston Community Pavilion, said: “How can they tell the community after everything they have been through that they won’t be publishing the final report.
“What happened here was catastrophic.
“A family was left with serious life changing injuries, three other households were made homeless.
“And the community is still feeling the effects of the disaster — there is still widespread fear and uncertainty, people’s mental health has been seriously impacted by the disaster.
“Six months on we need to know what happened and we need answers. There is a wall of silence it is almost as if it has been forgotten about, well no one here has forgotten about it.
Robert has revealed that some residents unable to claim on their insurance had to rely on vital donations to survive over Christmas.
Robert added: “We’ve had to dish out quite a bit of aid.
“We are still taking in donations, a lot of people are out of pocket.
“The blast was really near Christmas and this left a lot of people in a desperate situation.
“People have been left in limbo.
Robert is hit out at HSE for taking the decision to not publish the report, he added: “My fear is this could drag on for some time now.
“Insurance companies will be inundated with claims, and they won’t pay out until we know what caused the blast.
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