Barton House: Bristol residents to return home next month

Barton House residents were told to leave their homes in November

Tower block residents forced to leave their homes almost two months ago should be able to return next month.

More than 250 residents at Barton House in Bristol were evacuated from the building on 14 November because of safety concerns over the concrete.

Bristol City Council said work to secure the safety of the building started on Monday and is expected to be complete by 23 February.

Those affected will then be able to move back into the building.

High Rise Housing: Forced to Leave

If you want to find out more about the Bristol tower block residents evacuated from their homes due to safety concerns watch 'High Rise Housing: Forced to Leave' now on BBC iPlayer (UK only).

However at a meeting earlier, the city council was handed a petition signed by residents from 42 flats saying they would not move back in as they do not feel safe.

Student Fatima said she feels residents "haven't received enough information" to be able to feel safe and said the council had "completely downplayed the whole situation".

She said: "Most of the children have trauma. Now, all the kids, the mums, everyone is worried about going back in there.

"We don't feel safe. It's really scary."

Fellow resident Shaban Ali said it was not the news people were hoping for and while "some" people wanted to move back into Barton House, the council "don't understand how we feel as parents to go back into the building".

He added: "Just two months ago we were told that the building is not safe and we got evacuated almost in the middle of the night. Just two months after, with barely any work carried out in my opinion, we're basically being told to go back.

"There's a lot of things that just aren't adding up in my mind," he added.

Resident Fatima said she did not feel it was safe to return to the tower block

During the meeting, residents were given more information relating to the initial concerns that led to the evacuation in November.

This included potentially missing structural ties which connected the floors and the walls, and a concrete cover, which protects the building's metal reinforcement, potentially being too thin.

Officers said the structural ties had now been identified as being in place and in good order.

Further investigations of the concrete cover found the thickness to be generally good throughout the building.

The council said a layer of blockwork or cement was also placed where the cover was at its thinnest, adding additional protection.

Residents of the tower block were evacuated from the building in November

Other work includes adding additional fire proofing in 42 flats, a central alarm system to the whole block and checking for legionella bacteria in the water system.

The council said that 21 out of 98 flats at Barton House were currently occupied, with over half of the residents still living in hotels. Others are staying with family and friends.

Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees said the council "continues to move at pace to make the block safe".

"We are now in a place where we can have a high level of confidence that the structure of Barton House is safer than we thought back in November, but not yet safe for residents to return," he said.

Mr Rees said this confidence comes from the "detailed work" carried out by engineers "to survey the block across a number of key locations".

Mr Rees the council has a "high level of confidence" that Barton House is safer than initially thought

"We remain grateful to all Barton House residents for continuing to support our efforts and allowing us the opportunity to carry out these essential works, and to everyone who is continuing to support affected tenants," he added.

In November, Bristol City Council said surveys had shown three out of the 98 flats were structurally compromised.

It said concrete had not been attached properly when the tower was built in 1958 and added the block was not constructed according to design plans.

A report in December found issues were only present in some parts of the building, but "essential work" had to be completed before residents could return.