THE company in charge of Didcot Power Station has confirmed it will blow up the remaining half of the boiler house to help recover three trapped men.

RWE Power said today it was necessary to carry out the demolition following the collapse of half of the structure in February, which killed worker Mick Collings and left trapped Chris Huxtable, 34, from Swansea, Ken Cresswell, 57, and John Shaw, 61, both from Rotherham.

The company said the conditions caused by the collapse were "unprecedented at this scale in the UK".

In a statement it added: "Given these extraordinary circumstances, and in order to minimise the risk of any further incidents, it is necessary to bring down the remaining structure to be able to continue the recovery of the men."

The company is hoping to use robots to place explosive charges around the remaining structure, minimising the risk to life.

The statement added: "It is essential that the demolition is planned meticulously, using accurate data from the site, so that the building comes down properly and in the right direction the first time.

"This demolition process is therefore highly complex and requires thorough planning and testing which is understandably a time-intensive process."

Should the robots not be viable, it confirmed people would need to go underneath the structure to place the charges, but warned this would be risky.

RWE said: "We have now received the detailed design for the robotic demolition option and are reviewing it together with independent experts this week before it is submitted to the Health and Safety Executive.

"We understand the time taken to recover the families’ loved ones is deeply upsetting.   We are in close contact with them, providing information and regular updates. Our priority remains the recovery of the missing men and we are doing everything that is within our power to ensure it is progressed as fast and safely as possible."