It was one of the darkest days in East Renfrewshire’s history, with 22 lives lost and many more people injured.

Now, as the 50th anniversary of the Clarkston disaster is commemorated, there are calls for a more fitting memorial to those who perished.

Gas leaking from a pipe caused an explosion shortly before 3pm on October 21, 1971, with the blast decimating 10 shops, an overhead car park and a passing bus.

As well as the tragic loss of life, more than 100 staff, customers and passengers were wounded, many of them seriously.

Neil MacPherson lost his 25-year-old sister, Karen Fisher, in the carnage, which saw rescue workers frantically searching through the rubble for survivors.

He believes those who died that day have become forgotten victims, with very little done over the years to remember them.

In 2002, more than 30 years after the explosion, a plaque was erected by East Renfrewshire Council to mark the spot. Elsewhere, a tree near Clarkston Halls is dedicated to the victims.

There is also a plaque inside Clarkston Halls that lists the names of all those who died.

However, retired accountant Neil insists that isn’t enough.

“This is the biggest onshore gas disaster in the UK,” he told the Barrhead News. “There needs to be a more lasting memorial but I don’t think it will happen.”

Neil, 63, believes a commemorative garden, like the one built for the nine victims of the 2004 Glasgow Stockline factory disaster, would be a more fitting tribute.

The day before the Clarkston explosion, customers and shop staff had complained of a strong smell of gas. Engineers then attended but no source for the smell was identified.

A fatal accident inquiry held four months later ruled that the explosion was accidental and no blame was apportioned.

Neil thinks a public inquiry should have taken place at the time and someone should have been held accountable for his sister’s death.

“I feel it’s a forgotten disaster and there wasn’t the level of investigation that you would get nowadays,” added Neil, of Newton Mearns. “They should have closed the shops and evacuated the area until they found the source of the gas smell.

“You wonder how anyone could conclude it was just an accident. If that wasn’t negligence, I don’t know what is.

“Had the explosion happened an hour later, there could have been hundreds killed, as the local schools would have been out by then.”

Neil, who lived in the Knightswood area of Glasgow at the time, has vivid recollections of the day his sister’s life was so cruelly cut short.

He said: “I came home from school and was told by mum there had been an explosion.

“My sister lived in Stamperland with her husband and had two children, who were four and one.

“Karen gave them to a neighbour to look after – otherwise they would also have been dead. She was shopping with her best friend, who lived nearby, and the two of them were killed.

“My sister’s body was one of the last to be found because she was in the basement area of a clothing shop.”

Neil’s dad, Donald, died in 2004, at the age of 86, and his mum Thelma passed away in 2012, aged 89.

“They were badly affected by Karen’s death and never really got over it,” said Neil. “At that time, there was no counselling. You were expected just to get on with it.

“I would like to have seen more people held to account for Karen’s death. It’s important that her voice and those of the other victims are still heard after all this time.”

Another man who vividly remembers the disaster is architect Gordon Gibb.

He also supports calls for a more permanent memorial to the 22 victims.

Gordon, who was just 12 at the time, was at home having dinner when the police called and gave his engineer dad William, who was a trained fire investigator, a blue light escort to the crash site.

“He found that the gas pipe which was the source of the leak had rusted and fractured,” said Gordon, now 62. “The basement became filled with gas, which then ignited.

“My father was definitely shaken by what he encountered. At one point he saw a hand sticking out of the rubble but it turned out to be a tailor’s dummy.

“He gave evidence at the fatal accident inquiry and always felt that the gas authorities ‘got away with it.’

“At that time, there was no strict liability, so no fault was found.”

Gordon went on to become an expert witness in building accidents, following in his dad’s footsteps.

He added: “Like many other people, I feel that Clarkston is the forgotten disaster.

“I’ve always been surprised there is no fitting memorial to the dead. It’s almost as if it never happened.”

East Renfrewshire Council will mark tomorrow’s anniversary by staging a service at the memorial tree.

A minute’s silence will also be held across East Renfrewshire at 2.50pm – the time of the explosion.

A council spokesperson said: “There are three plaques and a memorial tree in a prominent and busy location near the shops to remember those caught up in the Clarkston

explosion.

“The memorial tree is regularly tended to by relatives of the victims and is located at a site where they can safely pay their respects and where it can be seen by shoppers and commuters on a daily basis.”