A MONTH after the Bockingham Green fire, plans have been outlined to install sprinklers on the Felmores estate to ensure it will never see such a devastating blaze again.

Essex Fire Authority last week agreed to set aside £250,000 each year until 2016 to put sprinklers in “vulnerable” homes in the county.

The Felmores estate in Basildon is on the authority’s priority list.

But Basildon Council’s deputy leader, Phil Turner, said he would press ahead with plans to install the sprinklers – with or without the fire authority cash.

He believes the flats on the estate are the priority, with the devices to be fitted in houses later.

He said: “We are pressing ahead with this because we want to give people the confidence these homes can be safely inhabited.

“There has been a lot of scaremongering at Felmores and I just want to make sure the residents are as safe as possible.”

The cost to install the devices in each home will range from about £1,000 to just over £2,500.

They are set off automatically, if a fire occurs.

Figures suggest fire deaths have been largely eliminated in properties with the devices, with injuries and property damage