Sheffield Council confirms testing of flats cladding in wake of Grenfell Tower fire tragedy

Sheffield City Council has confirmed that the city's aluminium clad tower blocks will be tested for safety in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
Tower blocks in Sheffield.Tower blocks in Sheffield.
Tower blocks in Sheffield.

The announcement comes after it was revealed that 600 tower blocks across the country have cladding "similar" to the tower in London in which 79 people are believed to have died last week when flames ripped through the building.

Authorities and councils across the country are carrying out safety checks on residential blocks and other buildings across the country - especially those that have been given decorative cladding.

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A Sheffield City Council spokesman said: "We will be taking samples on all of our aluminium clad blocks. This is a further check to provide further reassurance to residents."

Earlier this week, the authority announced the installation of sprinkler systems in all of its 24 tower blocks.

The council has said it's already 'spent millions' on fire safety in its council homes and improvement works have been carried out over the last five years.

The council will start consulting on a block by block basis later this year with tenants and leaseholders.

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Some 21 of the council’s 24 tower blocks have metal cladding. This is fire proof as the insulation is mineral and rock wool, with fire breaks at the floor and party walls. This creates a fire-proof box around each flat to the external structure to prevent the spread of fire to other flats.

The other three are brickwork-clad and designed to operate in the same way as the other 21 but in these cases have a separate metal fire barrier installed.

Yesterday, it was revealed 600 high-rise blocks are covered in cladding - and tests showed that 11 had similar to the type blamed for the Grenfell Tower inferno.