A WARD councillor says the authority should "monitor carefully" safety practices at a garage where a major fire last week injured a customer.
Fire authorities are investigating the cause of the blaze at Ken's Autos in Limpsfield Road last Wednesday, which followed a smaller fire at the same branch in January.
Sanderstead councillor Tim Pollard said council officers had also been called in after complaints last November that garage workers were unsafely disposing of waste, including car parts, in a residential area behind the garage.
He said: "There have been three incidents there in three months. The appropriate way forward is for the council's community safety team to be monitoring the site carefully."
The council had not responded by the time the paper went to press as to what action, if any, it was taking following the blaze.
A spokesman for the workplace safety watchdog the Health and Safety Executive said on Tuesday the incident had not been flagged up to them for investigation.
No-one at Ken's Autos was available to discuss the matter, as the Advertiser went to press.
The 28-year-old injured in last Wednesday's fire was taken to hospital from the scene with roughly 25 per cent burns to his face, arms and legs, a London Fire Brigade spokesman said.
Some 80 to 100 people were evacuated from the area shortly after 11am due to fears gas cylinders were involved in the fire, which broke out, although firefighters quickly ruled this out.
The fire caused serious damage to about 60 per cent of the ground floor, 30 per cent of the roof, two cars and a van.
Lyn Cattini had been visiting a friend in houses behind the garage at the time and told the Advertiser: "All of a sudden we heard a bang and I looked out of her window and there was black smoke everywhere, so I said to her, 'We had better get out'."
Shaun Jones, 56, described seeing workers try to make sure others were safe, adding: "Everyone ran out to the front, they were moving cars away, clearing everyone out, away from the building.
"They ran back a few times to get a few other cars out but could not get the keys to all the cars in the forecourt."
