The BP terminal in Cromwell Road has been classified as being in poor condition by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) following an inspection in the wake of the explosion four years ago at the Buncefield fuel depot in Hertfordshire in which 40 people were injured.

The BP terminal, next to the city's harbour, is one of three Scottish sites deemed as being at "high" risk of causing a major environmental accident if a leak occurred.

Although BP has submitted a response to SEPA in time for tomorrow's deadline outlining a series of measures, it has emerged that the remains of a 17th century fort built by Oliver Cromwell could be a potential source of conflict in carrying out remedial work to a bund — a wall built around an oil tank to contain oil in the event of it rupturing, or a fire.

In correspondence between the company and inspectors about the site, seen by The Inverness Courier, it is noted: "The bund wall is largely a reinforced concrete structure, except for the bund wall to the west of the site which is made of earth, and in part, comprises an ancient monument."

It predicts that any major remedial work would face "strong resistance" from Historic Scotland.

The fort was built by Cromwell in 1653-8 from material obtained from Greyfriars Church and St Mary's Chapel, Inverness, and from monasteries in Beauly and Kinloss.

Providing accommodation for 1000 men, it was demolished at the request of Highland chiefs in 1662, following the restoration of Charles II.

A BP spokesman said yesterday it was working closely with the competent authorities to implement various standards and best practices that had come out of the various investigations into the Buncefield incident.

Although he would not comment further on details of the work, he said of the issues relating to the bund wall at Inverness: "We are looking at engineering solutions to deal with this and recognise the importance of this historic site associated with Inverness terminal."

A spokeswoman for Historic Scotland commented: "We fully appreciate how important it is to ensure that the protective bund is fit for purpose and are always happy to discuss solutions which address the risk to health and safety while ensuring that the nationally important remains of the Cromwellian fort are protected."

A SEPA spokeswoman confirmed BP had responded to the findings relating to its Inverness and Aberdeen sites and the agency's experts would look at all submissions.

Wendy Thornton, a SEPA specialist in Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations, said securing improvements to prevent similar incidents at fuel storage depots continued to be an important priority.

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