Ricky Nutall, a former firefighter who responded to the devastating Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, has been speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme about the night of the blaze.

As he arrived at the tower burning panels were falling from the building. "It was apparent early on this was a different type of fire and it was progressing rapidly," Nutall says.

He also criticises the "stay put" policy, which London Fire Brigade (LFB) boss Andy Roe has previously told the BBC was in place for too long.

Nutall says: "The idea of a stay put policy is founded on principles of a building working as it should. At the time, as a firefighter on the ground, we had no idea that the building wasn’t built as it should be.

"There was a cataclysmic list of failings with the building and none of that information was available to us at the time."

This clip contains distressing details.

Nick Burton, who was rescued from the 19th floor of Grenfell Tower, has spoken to the BBC of escaping the burning building with his wife.

Maria Del Pilar Burton died in hospital in 2018 as a result of health problems caused by the fire. She is regarded as the 72nd and final victim of the tragedy.

Nick says he cannot even remember getting out of Grenfell, adding that he was convinced he would not survive the blaze.

He adds that the survivors and the families of the victims have been waiting seven years to find out who was responsible.

Watch his testimony below:

Many relatives of the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire have criticised the launch of a public inquiry before any criminal charges were announced.

Both the police and prosecutors have said no charges would be announced until late 2026 at the earliest because of the increasing complexity of the inquiry.

Nazanin Aghlani, whose mother Sakina Afrasehabi was killed in the fire, says prosecutions should have started ahead of the inquiry.

She tells the BBC that the seven-year process has "delayed justice" for victims and their loved ones.

"It's meant criminal prosecutions couldn't have happened, and all those people that should be facing criminal prosecutions" have instead had a "platform" to tell their version of the story, she says.

Kate Lamble
BBC News

Some days of evidence at the Grenfell Tower inquiry were full of almost impenetrable technical language, as experts discussed how combustible materials were tested and sold.

Others were highly charged with emotion, as residents spoke about how they were treated during the refurbishment and after the fire.

Throughout it all, it’s been noticeable how few organisations have made admissions, taken responsibility for their role in the disaster.

Instead they often pointed to another who they believe should hold the accountability.

The lead counsel to the inquiry has called this a “merry-go-round of buck passing”.

At the end of all the evidence, they drew a diagram of the tangles of these accusations and suggestions. They called it the web of blame, external.

The aim of this part of the inquiry will be to untangle this web and establish what went wrong.

Image source, The Grenfell Inquiry

The Grenfell Inquiry was ordered by then Prime Minister Theresa May on 15 June 2017 - the day after the fire.

Its purpose is to examine the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the disaster. The first hearing was on 14 September 2017.

The inquiry came in two phases, led by chair Sir Martin Moore-Bick.

• Phase 1 focused on the factual narrative of the events on the night of the fire. The report was published on 30 October, the contents of which can be found here, external
• Phase 2 examined how the tower block came to be in a condition that allowed the fire to spread. The report will be published today

Emma Dent Coad, the former Labour MP for Kensington, has called for "clear lines of accountability" from the final Grenfell inquiry report and criminal charges for those responsible for the disaster.

"We need to know who is actually accountable, who actually made the decisions that led to this horror and who can actually be pinned down and charged," she tells BBC Breakfast.

Dent Coad, who is no longer a member of the Labour Party and sits as an independent on the local council, says most people she speaks to "want to see people charged", but acknowledges it could take some time.

"And that's unbearable for people, they just want the people who made those horrible decisions in jail."

For context: The Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service have said no charges will be announced until late 2026 at the earliest because of the increasing “scale and complexity” of the inquiry.

The Grenfell Tower had 23 floors, a ground floor and basement, as illustrated in the graphic below.

The fire that spread across the high-rise building in North Kensington on 14 June 2017 killed 72 people, and destroyed 151 homes - both in the tower and surrounding areas.

It started in a Hotpoint fridge freezer on the fourth floor. In less than 20 minutes, the fire had climbed 19 storeys to the top of the tower, fuelled by highly combustible cladding.

This post contains distressing details.

Image source, Getty Images

At 08:30 BST, on 14 June 2017, Karim Mussilhy woke up to get ready for work. Stepping out of the shower, he heard a scream.

His wife ran into the bathroom and showed him an image on her phone of the Grenfell Tower on fire.

Karim had grown up on the same estate. His family still lived at the foot of the tower and his uncle, Hesham Rahman, had a flat on the 23rd floor of the building - the top of the tower.

“One of the first things I did was call uncle Hesham,” he recalls on the BBC’s Grenfell: Building a Disaster podcast. His phone kept ringing, but there was no answer.

Karim raced in his car to Grenfell. When he arrived, he saw firefighters in tears. “I still didn’t understand the severity of the situation”.

Then he looked up.

Karim previously told the inquiry he felt abandoned in the days following the fire, and had no help to find out what happened to his uncle.

Hesham’s death was officially confirmed two months later.

A landmark day for survivors and bereaved familiespublished at 06:22 British Summer Time 4 September

06:22 BST 4 September

Kate Lamble
BBC News

Today is a landmark for families who have been waiting more than seven years since the Grenfell Tower fire.

Public inquiries can’t find guilt or innocence, but they are meant to set out what happened and make recommendations so a similar disaster never happens again.

Before the bereaved, survivors and residents were given the report yesterday, there were great hopes that the inquiry may be able to untangle the complicated web of responsibility for the fire.

This report is a chance to clearly lay out the missed opportunities and decisions which clad the 23 storey west London block in combustible materials.

But there are also fears about what change the often frustratingly long inquiry process could bring.

Governments aren’t required to carry out any of the recommendations inquiries make.

Just before 01:00 BST on 14 June 2017, a fire broke out in the kitchen of a fourth floor flat in the Grenfell Tower in North Kensington, west London.

Within minutes, it had spread to cladding that had been added to the 23-storey building’s exterior in a recent renovation.

By 03:00, it had engulfed all four sides of the block. Most of the upper floors were well alight.

In total, the fire killed 72 people and destroyed 151 homes in the tower and surrounding areas.

In its wake, questions were raised about whether the cladding had contributed to the fire’s spread and whether sufficient safety measures had been in place.

Emily Atkinson
Live editor

Image source, PA Media

More than seven years on from the Grenfell Tower fire, survivors and bereaved families hope they will finally get some answers.

An inquiry into the disaster, that killed 72 people in June 2017, is set to publish its final report this morning.

The report, which comes after the inquiry’s second phase, will examine how the tower block came to be in a condition that allowed the fire to spread.

A public statement will be made by the inquiry chair, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, at 11:00 BST, as the report is published.

We’ll bring you the key lines from both, alongside analysis from our correspondents at the inquiry, and reaction from the survivors and bereaved families.