GOVERNMENT officials have admitted decontamination work at a site where radioactive materials were found may not have been done properly.

Ministry of Defence representatives conceded to the Echo they were not confident the work at the Shoebury Ranges had been carried out to an acceptable standard.

In 2005, it was revealed military tests involving radioactive materials had taken place on the site during the 1940s and 1950s as part of the nuclear defence programme.

Responding to an Echo Freedom of Information request, Ministry of Defence estate secretariat Phil Hill said: “The land quality assessment for the ranges area found trials involving radioactive materials had been undertaken at various locations across the site.

“It is known decontamination of some of the areas was completed, but the associated documentation does not provide sufficient confidence it was completed to an appropriate standard.”

Officials have also confirmed there are no plans to perform any further tests on the site, which is part of the Ministry of Defence’s Shoebury complex.

The ranges are contaminated with thorium-232, a radioactive material which was used in the manufacture of aircraft engines at the site, according to a land quality assessment.

The ground became contaminated because the engines were stored outside and subsequently corroded.

Tests on other sites at Foulness and Potton Island, where radioactive materials are also thought to have been used, are ongoing.

Independent councillor Mike Assenheim, for Shoebury, campaigned strongly for a full investigation into the site when it was revealed tests involving radioactive material had taken place.

He said: “Nothing much seems to have happened since this all started a few years back.

“I made inquiries then and was told there were no plans to do further tests then.

“I would be very unhappy if it turns out there is a problem with the area, but there is no point scaremongering until that is proved.”