Speculation that Royal & SunAlliance's Quality Repair Centre in Luton was facing closure over a health and safety issue have been dismissed as “an over the top rumour” by the insurer.

The RSA confirmed that it had detected oil mist vapour in a spraybooth at the bodyshop at the end of July. An internal investigation found that the contamination was caused by O-rings that had failed. These had quickly been replaced. An RSA spokesman said: “We advised our staff to go for medical checks which found there were no long-term health risks to them.

“We reported the case to the Health and Safety Executive who were happy with our procedures.”

Initial reports had suggested that some employees had suffered from carbon dioxide poisoning and were considering taking further action against Royal & SunAlliance. The spokesman denied this was the case.

“The Health and Safety Executive is not carrying out any follow-up investigation and there is no legal action being taken against Royal & SunAlliance,” he said.

“As a result of the problem, we are now checking the airlines at all our bodyshops every week.”