Number 10 has issued a statement about the Grenfell Tower fire.

"The prime minister is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life in the Grenfell Tower and is being kept constantly updated on the situation.

"She has asked for a cross-government meeting at the civil contingencies secretariat to take place at 4pm to co-ordinate the response and ensure the government is ready to assist the emergency services and local authorities as necessary.

"The PM's thoughts are with all of those affected by this terrible incident and the emergency services, who are working tirelessly in very difficult circumstances."

St Thomas' Hospital in west London has confirmed that four patients have been treated in A&E as a result of the fire at Grenfell Tower, one of whom has been admitted for further treatment.

David Collins, the former chair of the Grenfell Tower residents association says fire safety concerns were not dealt with by the council.

St Mary’s Hospital and Charing Cross Hospital have both declared a major incident.

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust said in a statement: “Our accident and emergency departments at both hospitals are dealing with casualties from the fire, please only attend if it is an emergency.

"Please use your localwalk-in centre, external or GP if possible for all non-emergency issues.

“Patients with planned operations today should contact the admissions office on their appointment letters.

“Patients with outpatient appointments should contact the outpatient number on their appointment letters.

"Any patients coming to either site for planned appointments that are confirmed as going ahead should bring their appointment letter with them.”

London Ambulance Service says it has taken 64 people to hospital across six hospitals, and 20 are in critical care.

Here's the full statement from Construction firm Rydon, which completed a refurbishment of Grenfell Tower in 2016.

BBC Radio 5 live

Image source, Getty Images

For some people in London, the Grenfell Tower fire may prompt memories of a tower block blaze in Camberwell in 2009. Three women and three young children were killed in the 14 storey Lakanal House, which started with a TV set on the 9th floor.Southwark Council admitted it failed to address fire risks and was fined more than £500,000.

Louise Christian, a solicitor who acted for three of the bereaved families of the Lakanal House fire, told BBC Radio 5 live the news was "unbelievably awful," given families "would want to know lessons [had] been learned"."People were advised to stay put [in Lakanal House] because there was supposed to be compartmentalisation. They died because they followed instructions," she said. "This is just so awful. We live in the 21st century - we should be able to protect people who live in our capital city, a very rich city."

Simone Williams volunteered to help victims who were in the west London block as it was engulfed in flames.

Mohammed Bouya is Moroccan, and has lived near the Grenfell Tower for 30 years.

He told the BBC's Claire Heald he doesn't know what has happened to his friends, a family of five with three children, who live on the 18th floor.

"I do believe more people could have been saved and I do think if it was a low-rise building like these around it, the community, we would have all pitched in and got people out," he says.

Mr Bouya says there was just one staircase in the tower, and other friends have been telling him they only heard about the fire when neighbours banged on their doors.

He says he is angry that the mixed community of Somali, Moroccan and eastern European people "glad to get somewhere to live", have been so badly hit.

Construction firm Rydon, which completed a refurbishment of Grenfell Tower in 2016, said it is "shocked to hear of the devastating fire" adding that the work "met all required building control, fire regulation and health & safety standards".

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has offered free hospitality to those who have been affected by the "terrible fire at Grenfell Tower".

"You are all welcome to come hang out in my restaurant and be fed and watered by my Jamies Italian team. We are in the Westfield just around the corner. Food and drink free of charge."

"This is for victims of the fire - our thoughts, love and prayers are with you all, big love jamie x

The phone network Three has now joined EE in offering anyone in the Grenfell Tower area access to a phone or charger.

• Flats account for about a fifth of all homes in England - 4.7 million properties out of the total 23.5m, according to the latest English Housing Survey, external
• Of those, 425,000 are in high rise blocks with most of them rented either privately or through local councils
• The rate of high-rise flats in London is higher than anywhere else in England
• A report by the Greater London Authority in 2015, external found flats comprise just over half of all the capital’s accommodation
• It found 8% of residents living in high-rise blocks, that compares with less than 2% across England
• London has just over 700 tower blocks of 11 floors or more
• Of those, about 500 were built between the late 1950s and late 1970s
• There were 159 completed between 1998 and 2014
• Despite having more people in tower blocks than the rest of England, London is very “low-rise” compared with other big world cities with 14% of homes in buildings of five floors or more
• The Greater London Authority said it compared to 61% in Madrid, 51% in New York and 38% in Tokyo

St Mary's Hospital in Paddington says it is treating 16 patients, three of whom are critical.

Charing Cross Hospital has four patients, none critical, and these are being treated for the effects of inhaling smoke.

Turafat Yilma, a 39-year-old resident on the building's seventh floor, has given a dramatic account of her escape from the burning building.

She said was woken up by a call from her neighbour on the 17th floor telling her to escape.

The dense smoke filling the corridors meant she was unable to get to safety with her five-year-old son Abem and husband Abraham, 44, until the fire brigade arrived.

"I tried to escape but the smoke was so heavy, so we thought just call 999 because I could not use the staircase.

"A fireman came and knocked on the door and all of us just had to follow them, my husband carrying my son and just me, it took us less than five minutes.

"I wasn't aware the fire was so large until we came outside.

"The flames were from the fourth floor and it just went up 10 floors and it was really bad at the time, it was really really bad.

"I was thinking just through this with us all alive, nothing that we have, all our belongings, were important."

Shifts are changing over for some of the emergency response teams, the BBC's Claire Heald reports.

The first fire crews were on the scene in under six minutes when the emergency calls began coming in at 00:54 BST.

Pictured: Exhausted firefighters taking a break in Booker Road, at the back of the fire.

A Coventry councillor has taken to Twitter to pay tribute to those who have been caught up in a huge blaze at a block of flats in West London.

Dozens more have been hospitalised after a fire broke out at Grenfell Tower overnight.

Image source, Getty Images

The London Fire Brigade is still tackling fires in the block, several hours after the blaze first broke out. An unmanned crane is now spraying water on individual fires within the tower.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has shared his sorrow over the Grenfell Tower fire and urged the public to support the victims.