THE public inquiry into the apparent council negligence that exposed staff at a North- East swimming pool to dangerous asbestos over five years cannot come soon enough.

Wear Valley District Council was fined £18,000 in August, after admitting breaches of health and safety regulations, described by Government inspectors as some of the worst seen in the region.

The council had been told about potentially dangerous asbestos at Woodhouse Close Leisure Complex, in Bishop Auckland, as long ago as 2001, but did nothing to protect its workers, who are now living in fear of developing diseases caused by the material.

None of the senior managers responsible at the time have been called to account because magistrates were told they have all moved on from the authority.

Yet, the full Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report obtained by The Northern Echo poses further questions, such as why did council staff feel their complaints were still not taken seriously when the report was found in January last year?

The current council regime has escaped criticism because it was not running the local authority in 2001. However, the HSE report suggests a puzzling level of dissatisfaction among staff at their treatment when officers were alerted to the problem last year. This is just one more aspect that needs to be considered by the council inquiry, due to start next year.

We welcome the authority's decision to hold the inquiry into the scandal in the public arena.

This is such a serious matter, with potentially tragic implications for the workers who were exposed for so long, that it would be totally wrong for the people who were responsible to escape with their reputations intact thanks to the cloak of confidentiality.