Council bigwigs have ducked out of a row with London's Chinese community after making a U-turn over the health and safety of ovens used by Chinatown restaurants.
Eleven duck ovens were taped up last month by Westminster Council inspectors amid fears they may release dangerous amounts of carbon monoxide.
Initially the council ordered all of the borough's 200 Chinese restaurateurs to gain the European safety accreditation (CE mark) for their Hong Kong imported ovens, or have the appliances shut down.
But this week it relented and said ovens which are checked by a CORGI-registered engineer, and where necessary modified, could stay in business.
The issue briefly soured relations between the council and the Chinese community, which said its restaurants stood to lose thousands of pounds every day if they could not cook crispy duck.
"Safety is of paramount importance and we agree with the council on that," said a triumphant Leslie Ng, vice chairman of the London Chinese Chinatown Association which led the campaign.
"But in 30 years there's never been an accident and we just wanted time to upgrade duck ovens which may have problems. Hopefully, we have resolved this in the best way for everyone."
A council spokesman said the approach was the best short-term solution to a potentially serious health and safety problem.
"But in the long-term every duck oven will need a CE mark. The problem was that these ovens were imported. But we are hopeful a CE-marked oven will be in the market this autumn," he added.
The prospect of a new row over kitchen appliances has been raised, after it emerged that many fish and chip shops may not have CE marks for their fryers. The council says it is the responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive to ensure all imports are safety marked.
