Former fire safety officer, Tom McNeilly, told a fatal accident inquiry into the blaze at Rosepark Care Home that he would be “very concerned” to learn that door closure arms had been removed.

Fourteen elderly residents died in the early hours of January 31, 2004, when a fire swept through the nursing home.

Mr McNeilly said: “If a fire develops in one of those rooms, it could easily go into the common escape area, which in turn puts all the other rooms at risk.”

Not doing so could allow fire to “overwhelm” the corridor, he said, jeopardising an escape route which the other residents in that area of the home would rely on.

But last week, the inquiry heard that safety closure arms had been removed from at least nine residents’ bedroom doors on the ground and lower ground floors.

Joseph Clark, Rosepark’s former general maintenance manager, said he had done so at the request of relatives, who complained that the heavy fire doors limited the “independence” of some of the elderly and disabled residents, who would struggle to open them on their own.

Questions were also raised about potential gaps in the checking of the home’s fire warning system.

Mr McNeilly agreed that it was vital for the home’s fire safety that zoning information on the panel was “a very accurate” representation of how the fire alarm system was laid out.

However, he said that Strathclyde Fire and Rescue would not run any checks on the fire warning system and zoning arrangements.

The inquiry continues.