DOORMATS have been banned from outside hundreds of flats across the county because of health and safety fears.

South Oxfordshire Housing Association (SOHA) said the items were among several it classified as being a “fire risk” in communal areas of flats – and has threatened legal action if anyone ignores its new ruling.

It has written to 650 tenants saying all communal areas have to be kept clear of items such as bicycles, pushchairs, plants, garden furniture, cabinets and mats and non-fitted carpet.

Soha, which has 5,200 properties across Oxfordshire, defended the policy, but tenant Keith Williams yesterday branded it “health and safety gone mad”.

Wantage MP Ed Vaizey, whose Government has promised to bring commonsense to health and safety rules, also said it was unlikely doormats would be a matter of life and death.

Mr Williams, of Kings Wharf in Mill Street, Wantage, said: “The bigger items you cannot argue with, but a mat outside your door?

“I cannot see someone tripping over a doormat. I would just like to highlight how stupid health and safety has got. We have gone beyond commonsense.

“And these things affect everyday life. You have to have health and safety but it has gone to the extreme.”

Mr Williams, who has lived in the building with his partner Karen Gills, 44, for three years, said: “I shall leave the mat there and if they want to take it I will have them for theft.”

A letter to tenants says Didcot-based Soha has a “duty to ensure that all internal communal areas (such as hallways, stairs, landing and corridors) are kept clear of all obstructions to avoid a fire risk”.

It adds: “From November 22, we will be checking these areas and will place a warning label on any items we find, instructing the owner to remove the item by a given date. If it is not removed Soha will dispose of it and charge the resident responsible.

“If we are unable to identify who is responsible for the item, all residents in the block will be required to pay a share of the disposal costs.

“Repeated incidents may result in legal action for a breach of the terms of the tenancy agreement.”

Lee Hayward, assistant director of customer services, said doormats were a “slip hazard”, particularly if a hall is filled with smoke.

He said: “We have a duty of care for all tenants. It is all for our tenants and the vast majority understand that.”

Mr Vaizey said: “In a recent meeting with the chairman of the health and safety executive, she impressed on me that people too often over-interpret health and safety representation.

“I would urge Soha to take a common sense approach to this issue. In the event of a fire a welcome mat is unlikely to be the difference between life and death.”