I do not know what the latest regs and codes of practice are in detail, but it is sensible to separate electrics from water and gas systems where practical, but of course there are appliances where gas and electricity meet and where gas water and electricity meet. So given the necessary protection and safety systems it is permissible to combine these elements.
I would be very surprised if a major caravan manufacturer had failed to observe the necessary codes of practice. Whilst I often accuse them of not doing proper design thinking, issues such as gas and electrical installations are usually scrutinised by an independent assessor for the type approvals so the chances of an oversight going un-noticed are quite small.
In reality whilst there is some danger with the light in a gas bottle locker, it would require a combination of faults to produce an explosive situation. Obviously an escape of gas, but also the gas bottle locker would need its fixed ventilation to be obstructed especially at the the bottom to prevent the LPG (which is heavier than air) to escape, and any source of ignition has to be present and accessible to any gas and air mixture.
The two common LPG's used in caravans are Butane and Propane. In may respects they are very similar and that is why they are so often interchangeable. To become combustible they need to be mixed with air, but they must be in the correct mixture range, other wise they will not burn or explode. (Butane 1.8-9.5%, Propane 2-10% Gas to Air mixture)
The mixture needs to be exposed to an ignition source to cause it to propagate a flame. The source needs to be hot enough to start the chemical reaction. Both gasses require an ignition temperature of about 2,250C or above.
Most gas bottle lockers have copious ventilation set at high and low levels, and it would probably need a deliberate act to provide enough occlusion to cause a gas leak to collect and build up within the locker. This ventilation is essential for two main reasons, firstly an most importantly to allow the gas bottle access to the ambient air so they can collect the necessary heat from the air that allows the content to boil to produce gas. The second of equal importance but not so frequently needed is to allow any spillage of LPG to escape and dissipate safely.
It is therefore unlikely that all the ventilation will be blocked, and the gas mixes with the right proportions of air to create an potentially explosive mixture.
Where a light is fitted, it is not the bulb that is likely to ignite the gas, as it is simply not hot enough, but it is the possibility of sparking from the switch contacts. Here again, most switch contacts are contained within some sort of housing, and they do not generally have free air movement around them, so even if the light housing was surrounded by a flammable mixture the casing provide some barrier between the contacts and the flammable mixture.
It would need more than one of the features above to be compromised at the same time to produce a dangerous situation. There is probably more danger from using the open flamed gas cooker and oven inside the caravan than a problem in the gas bottle locker. However there is a significant difference, and that is with the occupation of people inside the caravan may well smell gas sooner rather than later, where as outside the problem may go unnoticed for some time allowing the conditions to arise.
On balance I still err on the side of safety and suggest it is not a good idea to have 12Vdc or even 230Vac systems inside the gas bottle locker.
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