Liquigas said this morning that all its gas cylinders were legal, with serial numbers and covered by insurance.

Competitor Easygas yesterday admitted circulating illegal gas cylinders with no serial numbers, claiming these were a faulty batch sent by their Italian supplier.

Liquigas said in a statement this morning that the EU's Transportable Pressure Equipment Directive clearly stipulated that each cylinder should carry a unique serial number. This was for the purpose of tracing each cylinder to its original manufacturing certification.

Without traceability, no authority would be able to check and verify whether that cylinder was manufactured and maintained up to the required standards.

Both this directive and the ADR directive on the carriage of dangerous goods, stipulated that a cylinder without a serial number could not be tested, filled or sold but was only good as scrap metal.

Liquigas said the authorities had the duty to ensure that cylinders placed on the market were safe.

The authorities ensured the safety of the cylinders through serial numbers that served for the purpose of traceability, it said.