Rotherham MP says families of missing Didcot men need closure

Sarah Champion is pressing to make sure the families of two local men - missing after the partial collapse of Didcot Power station - can have their loved ones returned to them as quickly as possible

Published 8th Mar 2016

Rotherham's MP has told Hallam she's pressing to make sure the families of two local men - missing after the partial collapse of Didcot Power station - can have their loved ones returned to them as quickly as possible.

Ken Cresswell, 57, and John Shaw, 61, are among three people still unaccounted for after the incident in Oxfordshire last month.

Sarah Champion has been in touch with their families. A petition has also been started calling for swift action to recover the men from the wreckage as quickly as possible.

Sarah says she, along with the families, wants to know that something is being done to get them home:

"The horror that's going on now for my constitutents is absolutely unimaginable. That's why we really need to get some sort of conclusion now to get the boys home.

"I am here to support my constituents as much as I possibly can and I do understand how traumatic it must be that they are still buried under all of this rubble. Families just want closure, they want their loved ones to come home. So I'll be pressing to make sure that happens as soon as possible.

"I've had constituents who are family members getting in touch with me and they need some sort of closure on this.

"So of course we don't want any person going in trying to rescue these people and hurting themselves. But also we do need reassurance that there is work underway to make sure we can get these men home."

In a statement, both families say Ken and John are 'loved very much', and they haven’t given up hope of them being recovered and returned home.

Mike Collings, 53, was killed when the structure folded nearly two weeks ago.

Emergency services have since said it is "highly unlikely'' the missing people are still alive, and last week stated the recovery operation could take months.