Immediate Release

Saturday, June 10, 2000

N Gregor Macgregor

Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Erewash

Erewash’s Tory PPC, Gregor Macgregor, visited Enschede, Holland, on a fact-finding mission. Enschede was the scene of one of the worst post-war explosions on Europe. Nine hundred people were injured, eighteen of them killed and three are still missing.

Afterwards Gregor said; "the explosion was caused by a fireworks store catching fire and exploding. It is incredible that more people were not killed. The devastation is tremendous, whole rows of houses have been destroyed and a district of the town has been wiped out.

"Prior to the explosion there had been complaints amongst the residents in the area over the activities in the factory. A complaint had even been received by the local council.

"I have learned three important lessons that from this visit: People must be listened to when they voice concerns, planning regulations are there to protect people and the destructive force of explosives is immense."