RESIDENTS have welcomed plans to include a sprinkler system in the rebuild of the Beechmere care home.

A fire investigation into the blaze which gutted the former care complex on Rolls Avenue has been completed. Crewe and Nantwich MP Kieran Mullan says residents may need to wait longer for answers and there is a need to ensure future investigations or potential prosecutions are not "jeopardised".

Councillors at Cheshire East Council's southern planning committee yesterday (Wednesday) gave the go ahead for Avantage (Cheshire) to build a new home on the footprint of the original complex.

The action group formed in the aftermath of the fire, 'Sprinklers in Specialised Housing and Registered Care Accommodation NOW' want the law on sprinklers in specialist housing and registered care accommodation to be brought into line with Wales and Scotland.

Campaign group member Lynda Noden said: "It is compulsory for sprinklers to be fitted in Scotland and Wales. It is inexplicable that this isn't the case in England too.

"I know people who lost everything but their lives at Beechmere, and according to experts, sprinklers would have made all the difference.

"It's not about putting the fire out; it's about containing it. Clothes, childhood photographs, and life possessions could have been saved. Someone has to do something so that this kind of thing doesn't happen again and this [installing sprinklers] goes a long way towards that."

Another member of the group Emma Louise Hadaway said: "Our aim was to say never again to a fire that could have ended so much more catastrophically.

"For Cheshire East Council to impact a planning application by including a condition for an integrated sprinkler system is a success for our cause and we welcome more of the same in the future."

Fire safety experts and politicians, including former Crewe and Nantwich MP Laura Smith, questioned why the fire spread so quickly and highlighted the high quantity of timber used in the previous design.

At the time the original home was built in 2009 Avantage said the building had "the largest timber content of any on-site project in Europe".

The company said all appropriate fire risk and building assessments were in place before the fire.

MP Mullan held a meeting with Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service earlier this month and while he initially pushed for the findings to be made public he now says, so as not to "jeopardise" further investigations and potential prosecutions, the process of law needs time to take place.

"I know a lot of residents still want answers about what happened, what caused the fire. Following my discussion I now think that most important thing is that nothing is done to jeopardise any investigations or prosecutions," said the MP, who says the government has taken steps to improve building safety such that homes like Beechmere could not be built with a timber frame now.

He added: "I need to ask for residents to wait a little longer for answers. In the long run, making sure people are held to account is the most important thing. I want residents to know I am on the case and will push for answers as soon as we can safely get more information."

Project manager Grant Robinson told councillors at the planning committee that work on the new home would be completed "as quickly as possible".

"We have a full design team appointed and we have a contractor who is ready to start with a price agreed," said the architect.

"This is a big milestone for us to try and get this project back on the ground and get those residents back inside their proper homes - we always put the residents first.

"The council has done a remarkable job getting them rehoused but it is time to get them back in where they belong."

The Facebook page for the action group can be found here.