THE families of the men buried in the collapse at Didcot Power Station have vowed to fight plans to demolish the rest of the boiler house.

It has been nine weeks since half of the boiler house collapsed and the relatives of Chris Huxtable, 34, from Swansea, Ken Cresswell, 57, and John Shaw, 61 both from Rotherham, are protesting against the latest news.

Speaking to the Oxford Mail Steve Hall, Mr Cresswell's son-in-law, said: "We will fight this blast, because we do not want to bring back our men in pieces, we want to bring them back home in one piece.”

Describing Mr Cresswell, as a “hard working man, who would do anything for his family”, Mr Hall, who lives in Rotherham, said the family were angry and upset with the way the owners RWE has dealt with the disaster.

Last week RWE, said the “quickest and safest way” for recovery works to continue would be to use explosives and bring down the standing structure.

Mr Hall, an automotive engineer, said: “They just turn up and have no answers for us and tell us how it is going to be without taking into consideration our feelings and thoughts.

"The managing director of Coleman said he would go and stand under the standing building while they did the recovery work because he is that confident it is not unstable."

The 45-year-old also said the families feared a blast could destroy vital evidence which is being gathered for an investigation into why the building collapsed.

He added: “RWE also told us there is no guarantee that the building will fall the way it should.

"It could fall on top of the pile which means our men will be buried under more metal.

"We want RWE to talk to Coleman’s so their engineers can agree the building is stable, and then lower the cordon - that is our main priority.

"We want them back at their homes where they belong."

A spokesman from Coleman and Company, contracted by RWE, said: "We have provided information and advice to RWE on possible recovery options as well as a stability assessment of Boiler House three and four, but we are one in a number of experts that RWE consulted on these extremely complex issues."

Since recovery works began in March an area the size of a football pitch has been cleared from the site.

Kelly Nye, spokeswoman for RWE, said: "Having explored other manual options, our experts have made it clear that the quickest and safest way to bring the building down is by controlled explosive demolition, using a methodology such that it ensures the remaining structure falls away from the current debris pile."

To sign the petition, started by the families visit: http://chn.ge/238KX4X