HUNDREDS of homes on the Badbury Park Estate could be without legally-required fire safety barriers, residents fear.

An investigation this week revealed homes across the south west were sold with missing or incorrectly installed fire barriers, designed to stop blazes spreading internally.

The problem could affect up to a third of the 890 properties built by Persimmon Homes on the development, which is still under construction.

Badbury Park homeowner Simon Wesson told the Adver: “They should be held liable for this really, because they have messed up big time. Leaving families with homes that might not be fire safe.

“They chucked these houses up with little care, that’s what it feels like.”

The barriers are used to form a seal between different areas of a home. Without them experts say fire and smoke can spread up to 10 times faster.

The company will inspect homes to see if extra work is needed after residents voiced concerns. It has contacted more than 3,000 homeowners across the region already.

Dad of three Adam Colligan, who lives in a terraced house, said his partner called the developer as soon as she found out about it.

“We don’t know if we have it or not,” he said.

“If our neighbours have a fire it could spread but that’s always the risk, I’m not worried about it. We have got them coming out to see it next week sometime.”

A fire that ripped through homes on the Greenacres estate in Devon in 2018 eventually prompted an investigation that found missing fire barriers at 37 per cent of homes by the company.

A spokesperson for Persimmon Homes said: “We're taking this very seriously and have taken extensive action since the issue was discovered. To date, we have written to 3,200 homeowners in the south west to inform them of the issue and to arrange inspection of their property.

“A dedicated team has been established to carry out the inspections and to deal with any remedial work, which is normally carried out immediately and typically takes less than an hour.

“This should not have happened and we would like to apologise to all affected homeowners and assure them that we are doing everything we can to rectify the issue swiftly. We are taking this very seriously.

“We have taken independent expert advice on the issue from a fire safety specialist and they have confirmed that the action we are taking is appropriate.

"We have established a helpline number - 0800 915 0980 - which any homeowner can call to arrange an inspection of their property.”

The problem was first uncovered by the BBC's Watchdog.