Dangerous blue asbestos was found at Battersea Labour Club last month after it was spotted following a routine inspection by environmental health officers.

The cellar at the working men's club in Falcon Road was sealed off when around six feet of fibrous asbestos cladding was discovered in the cellar.

Officials and bar staff at the club which has around 600 members were unable to enter the cellar to change the barrels and had to resort to contingency plans of serving bottled beer and ordering extra barrels.

Blue asbestos is widely considered to be the most dangerous of all, with more cases of mesothelioma and cancer occurring amongst people working with this type of asbestos than white and brown.

A spokesman for Battersea Labour Club said: "There was a prohibition order put on the cellar itself so no-one could enter until the problem was dealt with.

"It just happened to fall on the weekend we had two major parties but we got some emergency deliveries in and everyone rallied round and helped."

A spokesman for Wand-sworth Council said: "Our role as the enforcement agency requires us to inspect buildings periodically. As with any establishment inspected, we may find at the time of the visit that everything is sound and satisfactory for many years and would not require any action to be taken as area does not pose any hazard in any way.

"However, over time, changes can occur which may then affect the original inspection findings."

The club employed a specialist firm to remove the asbestos and is now functioning normally once again.

July 9, 2002 10:00