On the brink of being toppled?

Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Thanks to Stephen King, health & safety coordinator at Tuffin Ferraby Taylor, who sent in this picture of the famous residence being summer cleaned. Taylor says: "I almost choked when I saw this picture, you would have hoped that when carrying out such a high-profile job you would ensure safety guidelines are being met.

 "The HSE guidance on the safe use of stepladders recommends that; users never stand on the top three steps of a double sided stepladder, they maintain three points of contact with the stepladder at all times and that they never work side-on from a stepladder. None of which are being followed here.

 "The picture shows that the worker is precariously balanced over what are likely to be sharp railings. Should he fall and be lucky enough to miss the spikes, you have to wonder how deep the drop to the basement beyond the railings is.

"It's great to see No.10 getting a make-over, but I think Gordon Brown has enough on his plate without having to worry about his builders fighting a negligence law-suit as well."