'Nothing being done about dangerous cladding'

Paul Baston lives on the top floor of a tower block with the same flammable cladding as Grenfell

Residents of high-rise blocks of flats which have the same cladding as Grenfell Tower have said they are living in fear as no work has been done to make their buildings safe.

Residents of Liberty Place and King Edwards Wharf in Birmingham said nothing had been done to remove the flammable cladding or insulation on the building, despite registering to have it removed in 2020.

"People are very, very concerned," leaseholder Paul Baston said.

"What we witnessed at Grenfell, we could witness here."

Mr Baston said a certain amount of fatigue had crept in after years of living with the worry, but that a fire that gutted a tower block in Dagenham on Monday had brought it all back.

Neera Soni, a resident and leaseholder at nearby King Edwards Wharf, said she had lived in the block for about 12 years and was looking after her young grandchildren when Grenfell happened.

She said: "We were absolutely petrified, if a fire happened, how would we get out?

"We actually thought about buying rope ladders to keep on the balcony to try and get down.

"But I used to think how would I carry the children and the babies down. How do I do that?"

Both Mr Baston and Ms Soni both said things should have been done to make the process quicker and get the work started.

"It took the government three years after Grenfell to decide who would have to pay for the cladding," Ms Soni said.

"Some paid for it themselves and the government wouldn't give the money back."

The responsibility for removing the cladding at Liberty Place lies with the developer, Lendlease, after it signed up to the government's cladding pledge.

Lendlease said its priority was to ensure every building it was responsible for was safe.

The company said it planned to carry out the work in October.

Ms Soni's building comes under the Government's Building Safety Fund, from where the money to remove the cladding will eventually come.

Ms Soni said her family were petrified after Grenfell and worried about how they would get out in the case of a fire

Andrew Scattergood from the Fire Brigades Union said there were numerous buildings in Birmingham and the West Midlands with dangerous cladding.

He said there were a huge number of issues surrounding fire safety in high-rises, including flammable cladding, faulty fire doors, and faulty fire alarms.

"It's a massive issue and in fact the Fire Brigade's Union describe it as a national scandal," he said.