WORCESTER City Council has reassured residents that an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease could not happen in any of the city's public buildings.

The announcement came in the wake of a fatal outbreak of the disease in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, which has been linked to an air conditioning unit in a local authority leisure centre.

Mike O'Grady, who leads the team responsible for building maintenance at the city council, said the council recognised the potential for problems in some of its buildings 10 years ago.

Environmental health officers set up a working party, which included experts from the health authority, technical consultants and officers responsible for maintaining council buildings, to identify the risks.

Some work was needed to deal with problem areas and a monitoring process was set up, which is reviewed on a regular basis.

"We identified any problems, modified equipment and took away any risk," said Mr O'Grady.

He added that there were no air conditioning systems in Worcester that were like the one at the centre of the Barrow-in-Furness outbreak.

"The infection from legionella is commonly caused by problems generated from water-cooled air conditioning units or tank-fed showers.

"The council does not have any water-cooled air conditioning systems and those few tank-fed showers remaining are subject to rigorous checking," he said.

Coun Simon Geraghty, cabinet member with responsibilities for property, said: "The council has in place monitoring procedures for its own buildings to ensure, as far as possible, an outbreak of Legionella can not take place."