Rotherham men confirmed as missing following power station collapse

John Shaw, 61, and Ken Cresswell, 57, were part of a demolition team working at the decommissioned site in Oxfordshire when the incident happened nearly two weeks ago.

The release of their details came as Mr Cresswell’s uncle, John Howley, criticised the amount of time being taken to get to the missing men.

He said: “It is just the uncertainty – you are hoping that they are still alive in there but you have got to be realistic and think that it has been going on too long now.

“It just seems they are dragging their heels – if demolishing the rest of the building is the only way they are going to get at them then they need to get on with it.”

Describing his nephew, Mr Howley said: “He was a good lad – a real grafter. He worked all over the country on demolition for quite a few years.”

The third man unaccounted for at the Didcot site has been named by his family as Chris Huxtable.

Mr Huxtable’s partner, Jade Ali, from Swansea, has launched an online petition calling for the efforts to locate the missing men to be stepped up.

The emergency services have warned that it is “highly unlikely” that they are alive and last week stated the recovery operation could take months.

Ms Ali said: “We need them home. Minutes are turning into hours, and days are turning into weeks.”

Mike Collings, 53, from Brotton, near Whitby, was killed in the collapse at Didcot on February 23.

A Health and Safety Executive spokesman said: “We fully understand the anguish the families of the three missing workers will be experiencing.

“The priority of the multi-agency response remains the recovery of the bodies to their families.

“Given the risks, scale and complexity of the incident and that the building collapsed without warning, emergency services have had to strike a very difficult balance between helping those trapped and injured, recovering the bodies and the need to avoid further harm on the site.”

Thames Valley Police held a meeting with the families of the three missing men today.

In a statement, the force said: “The family of Ken Cresswell, aged 57, from Rotherham, confirmed that their loved one is missing following the partial collapse of Didcot A Power Station on 23 February.

“Ken is loved very much and his family haven’t given up hope of him being recovered and returned home.

“They ask the media to continue to respect their privacy at this difficult time.

“The family of John Shaw, aged 61, from Rotherham, confirmed that their loved one is missing.

“John is loved very much and his family haven’t given up hope of him being recovered and returned home.

“They ask the media to continue to respect their privacy at this difficult time.”