More than 100 rig leaks disclosed by HSE

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has said that more than 100 serious leaks of oil and gas have occurred from North Sea platforms in recent times.

It revealed figures which showed that between January 2009 and November 2010 Shell's Brent Charlie portal was at the centre of significant or major gas escapes, with three occurring in one day in September 2009.

The data comes on the anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster, which was the world's worst offshore tragedy where 167 lost their lives.

"Piper Alpha, which blew apart 23 years ago today and killed 167 men, was caused initially by a significant gas leak. We have had significant gas leaks every week for the last couple of years. And if any of these gas leaks had found an ignition source we could have been counting bodies," Jake Molloy, the RMT union's offshore organiser told The Scotsman.

Piper Alpha was based around 120 miles off the north-east coast of Scotland, with rescuers reporting an inferno reaching 350ft high.