Petrol company Texaco has revealed ambitious and controversial plans to add homes and shops above hundreds of petrol stations in urban areas up and down the country. The plans are aimed at meeting the demand for high density projects in towns and cities, by making use of sites that are currently only built to one storey high.

Texaco has put together proposals to develop retail, housing and office hubs at 10 London filling stations and could eventually roll this out to around 150 sites around the UK.

Planners are currently considering the biggest of the pilot schemes - a £35m scheme next to the Thames on the Albert Embankment, which consists of two towers, one of 27 storeys and one of 12 - with a decision due some time in February. Plans are also at advanced stages for a number of the other multimillion-pound schemes in Clerkenwell, Crouch End, Tooting and Bermondsey.

The company has had to bring in a sizeable team of experts due to the complex planning issues which have arisen because of the fire safety issues involved in building above a huge tank of flammable liquid.

Harry Philips of Lifschutz Davidson (one of the project architects) explained: "It is especially hard with four or five uses crammed onto a tight site. Most buildings come down to the ground, but here we have office and residential space above a petrol forecourt. How people escape in an emergency is important." Philips said the design team for the Clerkenwell project had worked closely with planning supervisors to find solutions. The option chosen was the installation of a central spine that can used to evacuate the building.

However, the solutions that have so far been proposed may not be sufficient to ensure either the safety or the quality of life, according to ROOM, the National Council for Housing and Planning. Neil Sinden, head of policy and research said: "There are generic considerations that need to be looked at if these developments are not going to result in poor quality of life for residents. These would be the risk of spills, accidents and explosions, of air pollution and of noise disturbance. We'd like local planners to put in a policy framework to promote this in the right context."

If the scheme do get clearance, then the chances are that the plans will be copied by other filling-station owners, who will be keen to cash in on what could prove to be one of the more lucrative property development ideas of the decade.