Tower cladding ‘burned as fast as petrol’

♦ The plastic core of the cladding used on Grenfell Tower could have burned as quickly as petrol, a fire safety expert has said.

The energy output from the building would have been equal to burning 51 tons of pinewood, research by the University of Leeds suggested.

Dr Roth Phylaktou, an expert in fire investigation at the university, said the cladding combined with insulation was “optimum for vertical fire spread”.

Before the blaze, Grenfell Tower had been refurbished with Reynobond PE cladding, consisting of Reynolux-coated aluminium sheets over a Reynobond polythene core.

Dr Phylaktou told the BBC: “The polythene would have burned as quickly as petrol.”