BP put workers in 'harm's way' over oil rig fire

BP has said it was "regrettable" there was no water to tackle a fire that led to the evacuation of a North Sea rig.

Dozens of non-essential personnel were taken from the Etap platform, situated about 100 miles east of Aberdeen, in February after the fire.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has served BP with an improvement notice over the incident.

It said by failing to provide a generator firewater pump it had placed workers in "harm's way".

The Etap development is one of the largest currently in the North Sea.

HSE officials said the pump had been unavailable to workers since June last year because of maintenance issues.

The improvement notice said: "There was no firewater available to fight the fire that was occurring, therefore you had to rely on people in the form of an emergency response team to extinguish it thereby placing them in harm's way."

In a statement the oil giant said safety remained its "core value and focus at all times".

It added: "While the incident on Etap was regrettable, there were no injuries and we are making good progress towards full compliance with the HSE's improvement notice as a priority."

The compliance date is 15 October.

Production was temporarily suspended after the incident.