IT COULD BE MANSLAUGHTER

Ex-DPP says culprits should face the most serious charges as prosecutors probe builders and council chiefs

CONTRACTORS and council chiefs could face manslaughter charges over the Grenfell Tower inferno.

Senior prosecutors are already advising detectives investigating who was responsible, it emerged yesterday.

Everyone from local politicians who ignored warnings to contractors who fitted flammable cladding can expect to be questioned.

One MP demanded police seize crucial documents in raids as he said contractors were already deleting details of their work on the 24-storey block from websites.

The plastic panels – that even the manufacturer warned were a deadly fire risk – are banned on high-rise buildings in Britain, ministers said yesterday. Yesterday Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders confirmed there was a criminal investigation into the fire that killed at least 58 in the early hours of Wednesday.

Former DPP and Labour MP Sir Keir Starmer told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘I spoke to the DPP yesterday and there are prosecutors already in, advising the police. There are wider regulatory offences, but I think manslaughter is the most serious and that’s the one that needs to be looked at first.’

Chancellor Philip Hammond said the probe would look at whether regulations had been breached at the tower in North Kensington.

London MP David Lammy, whose friend died in the fire, called for politicians, council chiefs and contractors to face justice. He said: ‘ People are very angry. Trust is low. There are contractors who dealt with the tower and have taken off their websites that they worked on the tower.

‘The police have powers to go in and seize emails and documents. Is it going to happen in this case? Have they seized these computers? People have lost their homes and I have lost a friend. We believe it’s a crime.’

Harley Facades, which was paid £2.6million to supply and fit the cladding, said it had removed the Grenfell Tower page from its website ‘as a mark of respect’.

Minister for London Greg Hands and the Department for Communities and Local Government said fitting plastic cladding to a tall building was ‘not in accordance with UK building regulations’.

The Mail found builders had saved just £6,250 on the £10million job to refurbish Grenfell in 2015 by fitting cladding that has a plastic core.

Initially a fireproof metal cladding had been chosen by architects, but contractors switched it for Rey- nobond PE. Arconic, which makes Reynobond, has three versions of its product – and warns the PE option should not be fitted above 10m (32ft) to ‘ avoid fire spreading extremely rapidly’. Grenfell is 67m (220ft).

The ‘fire retardant’ version, Reynobond FR costs only £2 more per square metre.

But even that should not be fitted above the reach of fire- engine ladders – around 30m (96ft).

Higher than that, only panels classed as ‘ zero combustibility’ should be used, Arconic says.

Speaking after a church service near the tower block yesterday, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the community was frustrated and angry in the wake of the blaze.

He said: ‘The tragedy we’re seeing is because of the consequences of mistakes and neglect from politicians, from the council and from the Government. If some tower blocks are death traps, we need to know which ones they are.’

He said some might need to be ‘pulled down as soon as possible’.

Father’s Day cards were among the tributes left close to the burnt- out tower yesterday.

Downing Street has announced £5,500 in emergency funds would today be given to each family whose home was destroyed, after Theresa May apologised for the sluggish response to the crisis.

The reaction to the blaze from council officials had been criticised by residents who met the PM – but Nick Paget-Brown, the leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, yesterday refused to say if he would resign and insisted his staff had offered an ‘effective, co-ordinated’ response.

It was also reported some survivors had ‘freaked out’ after being offered accommodation in high-rise towers.

Harley Facades boss Ray Bailey has not responded to questions since an initial statement that said the firm was not aware of a link between the fire and the cladding. John Cowley, of Omnis Exteriors, which made the panels, yesterday denied Reynobond PE was banned in high-rise towers under building regulations.

Matthew Irving, whose fireproof panels had been initially chosen for Grenfell, said fire safety regulations were ‘ not worth the paper they are written on’. He said: ‘ It’s got to change, something must be done.’

‘Mistakes and neglect’