CARRICK housing chiefs gave an assurance to the Packet yesterday that council tenants living in Falmouth and Penryn were never in danger even though two employees falsified a gas boiler safety certificate.

The two staff were sacked for gross misconduct after a falsified safety certificate on a tenant's boiler was produced during an external audit.

This week the district council issued a statement confirming that two men, who have not been named - although one is said to be a manager - had been dismissed after an internal investigation.

"We can confirm that two members of staff, one from Carrick Housing and one from Carrick district council, have been dismissed for gross misconduct," she said.

"We cannot comment any further because of the ongoing legal processes and there is a right of appeal."

Mike Owen, executive director for Carrick Housing, said they took anything to do with gas very seriously and the matter had been investigated thoroughly. "This is a single isolated incident and tenants and safety have not been compromised," he said. "There has been a thorough investigation of all gas servicing. Corgi the Confederation for the Registration of Gas Installers have been involved and are happy with what has occurred. The quality of the workmanship was never in question. It was never about the quality of the workmanship. Safety has never been compromised."

The matter came to light during an external audit when it was discovered that documents were being falsified and the two men were suspended.

Health and Safety Executive spokesman Nadia Nuaimi said it was understood that the paper record was falsified saying checks had been carried out when they hadn't in order to meet the criteria of the audit.

"We were informed and we informed the police but at the end of the day Carrick carried out its own internal investigation and gave us a full copy of the report. We were happy with that.

"It isn't a health and safety case but it may have been a criminal offence, in this instance, with paper records being falsified. We informed the police but they haven't pursued it.

"Our main interest was that we were told by one employee in the department that he was suffering from stress in the workplace because of what was going on and we wanted to make sure he was able to go back without being stressed."

The sackings follow last year's highly publicised case in Corfu where a British couple on holiday with their children were poisoned by a faulty boiler leaking carbon monoxide fumes. The parents survived but the two children, aged seven and six, died. Four hotel staff now face manslaughter charges.

Safety checks are part of a landlord's legal requirements in the UK. They ensure that appliances are working correctly and guard against the dangers of carbon monoxide.

Landlords who have breached the gas safety laws and put lives at risk have faced tough sentencing recently in the courts.