THE company behind a chemical storage row has said it has done nothing wrong.

Arcelor Mittal, the company which has come under fire for storing ammonium nitrate at its base in Chatham Docks, says it was not aware it needed hazardous chemical consent until recently.

Residents living nearby feared plans to store 2,500 tonnes of potentially exposive material could put them under threat.

They were also upset that they had not been consulted.

The company has been handling the material since 2006. A spokesman said it has handled more than 7,000 tonnes over a number of shipments, to the complete satisfaction of all government agencies.

The company says it contacted a number of organisations before the first consignment arrived at Chatham Docks, including Kent Fire and Rescue, Medway Council and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Following a routine fourth site visit by the HSE, an officer informed Arcelor Mittal it needed a hazardous chemical consent from the local planning authority to store more than 1,000 tonnes on site.

A spokesman said: “At this point we made an immediate application to the local authority.

“Arcelor Mittal Kent Wire has done absolutely nothing wrong in this matter and in fact throughout the whole process has acted under instruction and with full compliance.

“We wish to once again restate that we have designed this application in accordance with the strictest safety regulations, which will be further tested in the course of the planning process We are confident that our application represents no danger whatsoever.”

For more on this story, see Friday's Medway Messenger print edition.