Bristol fire: Flats residents urge council bosses to meet them

Residents want new sprinkler systems and more regular fire safety checks

Residents of Bristol's tower blocks want to meet council chiefs to discuss fire safety in their buildings.

It comes after a blaze at the council-owned Twinnell House in Easton last month left one person dead and eight others injured.

Tenants have asked senior figures to meet them on Thursday, at the Easton Christian Family Centre.

Bristol City Council said fire safety measures worked during the fire and £1m was being spent on safety inspections.

It is not currently known whether city mayor Marvin Rees or cabinet member for housing, Tom Renhard, will attend the meeting at the centre in Beaufort Street.

Fiona Lester, the head of housing management and estates, has also been invited, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Abdul Jabar Oryakhel died apparently falling from the flats during the fire in the early hours of 25 September

Renters' union Acorn said residents of council-owned high-rises in Easton and Lawrence Hill wanted designated fire marshals to be present on site around-the-clock until fire safety measures are improved.

This should include more regular fire safety checks and the installation of new sprinklers, the union said.

Shaban Ali, who lives at Barton House near Netham Park, had said residents feel ignored.

"No lessons have been learned and nobody wants to take accountability, nor put it right for remaining residents," he said.

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As well as maintaining fire safety measures had worked during the Twinnell House fire, the council's cabinet announced last week it would be spending £1m on safety inspections in its tower blocks.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Rees said: "That fire [in Twinnell House] broke out in a top-floor flat, didn't spread, our cladding didn't combust, the fire was contained within the flat, and the fire service had access to it.

"It should give us confidence in the measures in place in our blocks of flats."

Father-of-seven Abdul Jabar Oryakhel, 30, died as the fire took hold, early on 25 September, when he fell from a window on the 16th floor of Twinnell House.

The council has said the fire was caused by a homemade electric bike stored in a flat.