RECOVERY teams could start moving the rubble of the collapsed boiler house at Didcot Power Station if safety measures are signed off at the end of this week.

Three weeks after the disaster at Didcot A, specialists hope the site will be deemed safe enough to start dismantling the 30ft pile of rubble and recover the three missing men.

Calls have been made for rescue teams to start moving the 30ft pile of rubble, which buried the workers on February 23 as the building was being prepared for demolition.

Family members of the trapped men protested outside the gates at the weekend and criticised the recovery operation saying it is take too long.

Claims have also been made that they are being kept in the dark.

But energy company RWE Generation, which owns and is responsible for the safety on the site, has said it is doing everything to make the area safe enough for recovery teams to move in and hopes the removal of the rubble can begin at the end of this week.

RWE has a legal obligation to produce a plan for the specialist teams to work on the site, before any of the rubble can be removed.

Spokeswoman for RWE Kelly Nye said they had been planning how the site could be safe to work in since the disaster happened.

She added: "Our teams mobilised immediately after the incident and we started an investigation into the structure within a day or two.

"We have specialist teams looking at visuals, pictures of diagrams of the site, but getting access to the building has been complex and difficult.

"It's taking longer than what we would have wanted, but we hope to get it done as soon as possible."

Once the energy company has carried out its independent survey of the site, the Health and Safety Executive will decide whether the site is safe enough for workers to carried out the recovery operation or not.

If approved, specialist teams headed up by Thames Valley Police will be deployed and the 30ft of twisted steel and concrete will start to be dismantled.

Ken Cresswell, 57, John Shaw, 61, both from Rotherham and Christopher Huxtable, 34, from Swansea are trapped underneath the collapsed boiler house.

Gail Cresswell attended the scene of devastation with the other families on Sunday and protested with banners saying "bring home the Didcot 3".

She said: "These men of ours have been trapped for three weeks and nobody has done a thing to help them. Not a piece of rubble has been moved.

"It is disgusting and enough is enough."

Mr Huxtable's partner Jade Ali has set up a petition which has more than 15,000 people have signed.

Mick Collings, 53, from Saltburn-by-the-Sea died as a result of the collapse and five others were injured.

Thames Valley Police spokeswoman Michelle Campbell said force liaison officers continue to support the families affected.

She added: "The priority of the multi-agency response remains the recovery of the missing men so they can be returned to their families.

"Preparation at the site, for the recovery, is taking place and will continue.

"We are working hard to identify as soon as possible what caused the building to collapse."