Tower block residents in Swindon given safety assurances that different 'cladding' was used

Swindon Council has revealed that all of the residential high-rise blocks of flats in the town have been fitted with non-combustible facades.

This follows an announcement by Downing Street yesterday (22 June) that there could be as many as 600 high-rise buildings in the UK at risk from the dangerous cladding in the wake of the disaster at Grenfell Tower which claimed the lives of 79 people.

South Swindon MP Robert Buckland toured tower blocks in Walcot today (Friday) to give people assurances that the buildings were safe.

High-rise residents across the town have also been issued with fire safety advice leaflets in the past few days.

A council spokesman said: "The external façade to our residential high-rise blocks of flats all have non-combustible material, with brickwork to the blocks in Park North and Penhill, mineral fibre panels with render finish to George Hall Court and a curtain walling or glazing system to the DMJ tower. We don’t have the same External Wall Insulation (EWI) system fitted to the Grenfell Tower block in West London."

The Department for Communities and Local Government said 14 residential high-rise buildings in nine local authority areas have now been found with cladding that raises safety concerns.

Portsmouth Council, Hounslow Council and Islington Council are the latest local authorities to say they are taking precautionary measures over cladding on their buildings.

Meanwhile, the Department for Education said all bodies responsible for safety in schools in England are being instructed to carry out checks to identify any buildings that may require further investigation.

A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: “We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to all those affected by this tragedy and to reassure our own tenants of the measures we have in place.

"A specialist consultant carries out fire risk assessments on all eight of our high-rise block of flats and these are updated on an annual basis. We also carry out monthly inspections to ensure all the fire doors and dry risers are in full working order. The external façade of all our high-rise blocks is made of non-combustible material and we have a fire alarm system fitted to all our high-rise residential blocks of flats which are tested weekly and quarterly by specialist contractors. Our communal entrance doors and passenger lifts all operate in accordance with good practice.

“A dry riser is also fitted to all the residential high-rise blocks, apart from the David Murray John Tower, which has a wet riser which means that it is fully charged with water for the fire services to use on each floor, as needed.

“We have a close working relationship with Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service (DWFS) and have an evacuation strategy which requests that tenants and leaseholders stay in their flat and prepare to evacuate and wait for instructions from DWFS. However, if heat or smoke is affecting their flats residents are advised they should leave their properties and close all windows and doors behind them.

“When the full information is known about the tragic Grenfell tower incident we will review our robust fire safety arrangements that we already have in place.”