All towers checked fail safety checks

BRITAIN: Sixty high-rise buildings in 25 UK local authority areas have failed cladding fire tests, with every sample assessed falling short of the safety threshold.

Substandard cladding has been found on social housing across England, from Plymouth, Norwich and Manchester to Sunderland and Stockton-on-tees.

Last week, in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster 12 days ago, Theresa May promised an emergency assessment of up to 100 buildings a day, but the alarming results, and the 100 per cent failure rate of the high-priority samples so far, have prompted calls for the testing process to be accelerated.

Islington, Lambeth and Wandsworth joined Barnet, Brent, Camden and Hounslow on the list of London boroughs with substandard cladding, while 11 other areas are yet to be named.

Lord Kerslake, the former head of the civil service who now chairs the Peabody housing association in London, questioned why, several days after May’s promise, the results of only 60 buildings had been revealed.

‘‘We are told they can do 100 a day. That should be the number they are meeting,’’ he told The World This Weekend on BBC Radio 4.

‘‘This is clearly a terrible national disaster and demands a national response.

‘‘As well as the public inquiry on the lessons learnt we need to establish where the areas of the highest risk are and take action immediately. That’s been a priority for me.’’

Investigators are examining how so many properties around the country, including Grenfell Tower in Kensington, west London, ended up being clad with flammable materials. - The Times