Barton House residents march on City Hall
They are demanding better treatment after being forced to evacuate in November
Residents of a Bristol tower block evacuated over safety fears have marched on City Hall, demanding better treatment.
Hundreds were told to leave Barton House in November after minor survey work suggested a fire, explosion of similar incident could cause the building to collapse.
Unsure of their future, many of the residents have been living in hotels ever since.
However, earlier this month having conducted further surveys, leaders at Bristol City Council met with residents and declared the building is actually safe despite their initial fears and residents should be able to move back in by 23 February.
You can read more about that announcement here.
Rather than considering that good news, many residents feel the saga has been handled so badly and they have been so traumatised, that they would like to be rehomed somewhere else instead.
Speaking to Hits Radio after the announcement earlier this month, Chantelle said: "You can tell us it's as safe as possible but what you've (the council) done has already traumatised people.
"You can't undo that damage you've done to rip people out of their homes...and they expect people to just go back into it.
"They don't seem to comprehend the damage they've done to people.
My kids are traumatised."
Fatima is another resident but also a member of the Housing Union ACORN.
She said: "We don't feel safe at all.
"We asked the Mayor to grade the building; is it red, green, amber, yellow, and he completely refused that.
"We want them to grade the building, how safe is it?
"I done a list, I've got 42 flats, there's 98 in the whole building so I've got almost half of the flats...all of them do not want to go back to that building.
"The children do not feel safe going back in there."
Today's march was organised to further vocalise those feelings, though not all residents feel that way.
Jon Wisbey who is a member of the Barton House Tenants Association told us: "I'm more than comfortable going back in.
"It's my home.
"I've been there 23 years (and) it hasn't collapsed on me yet.
"I can't see it collapsing on me in the future."
In a statement shared with us a spokesperson for Bristol City Council said: “We are in direct contact with residents who have concerns about returning to the block.
"They are being supported by community leaders, charities and council officers.
"Mental health support is available and we continue to share information regarding the findings of the surveys to help explain what engineers have found."
They say the council's "primary goals" are to continue to support residents and to complete all work necessary to allow them to move back in.
"Nobody will be asked to return until the fire service and engineers have said it is safe to do so," they said.
Why can't residents move back in immediately?
Despite now saying the building is structurally sound, the City Council says it wants to install a central fire alarm and additional fire proofing in certain places, to protect the building's metal structure even further, before letting people move back in.
Additionally, with many of the flats having been empty for months, there is a risk that legionella bacteria may have developed in the water system.
That needs to be tested.
"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," the Mayor's written statement continues.