Thousands facing evacuation as 600 towers to be tested
HUNDREDS of tower blocks across England will be tested to see if their cladding is combustible like Grenfell Tower’s.
There are an estimated 600 high-rise residential blocks at least 260ft high with some type of cladding in England, the Government said.
It means thousands of people could be evacuated if their buildings are ruled to be potential deathtraps.
Local councils have been asked to send cladding samples for testing in London.
By last night , combustible cladding had been found on 11 blocks, in eight local authority areas across England.
Officials said failing fireproof tests did not necessarily mean homes were unsafe, nor that the cladding is necessarily the same as that used on Grenfell Tower.
Fire safety teams will urgently check buildings where cladding is flammable, said a Downing Street spokeswoman.
Dangerous
Other factors which will help decide if buildings are safe include the amount of cladding that has been used and where, the height of the structure and whether there have been sprinklers fitted.
Residents would be told by landlords where cladding had failed tests and will be rehoused if buildings are deemed too dangerous.
With the sampling centre testing up to 100 pieces of material a day, and the work only starting this week, thousands of families face waiting several days for results.
Buildings so far confirmed to have flammable facades include the Chalcots Estate in north London, where cladding is being removed.
Three high rises in Plymouth are believed to have been clad in the same type of material as Grenfell.
Every tower block in Birmingham is to be fitted with a sprinkler system regardless of whether the Government will pay.
The devolved governments of other parts of the UK are making their own checks.
Mrs May said a probe into whether cladding in Grenfell Tower met fire regulations would be published in the next two days. She refused to say if Kensington and Chelsea council’s Tory leader Nicholas Paget-Brown, whose area includes the inferno site, should quit. But she promised “no stone will be left unturned” in the inquiry into the Grenfell tragedy, adding: “For any guilty parties there will be nowhere to hide.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said residents had been “let down both in the immediate aftermath and so cruelly beforehand”.