Cladding removed from towers across Greater Manchester
Flats in Manchester and Salford fail fire safety checks
Contractors have begun removing cladding from more tower blocks across Greater Manchester as fire safety checks showed the materials were dangerous.
Blocks in Hulme, Longsight and Salford were among those that safety assessors decided had to have their cladding removed as the fallout from the Grenfell Tower disaster continues.
One Manchester housing association who are responsible for the some of the affected tower blocks say they’ve acted quickly to make sure residents are safe.
Dave Power, group chief executive at One Manchester said: “We have now received confirmation that an additional 11 tower blocks have failed the safety tests, taking the total to 16. We continue to take immediate action and have hired a contractor to remove all of the cladding which is made of Aluminium Composite Materials, that work will start today.
We have informed all of our residents in the 16 blocks affected and we are working very closely with them to provide reassurance. They remain our number one priority. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue service will be visiting all 16 tower blocks today to undertake in depth safety assessments. We will act on the advice of the Fire Service to ensure that all necessary safety measures are in place to avoid the need for homes to be evacuated for any period. 24-hour security is now in operation in every tower block to provide a ‘wakeful watch’ to raise the alarm and manage the building evacuation in the event of a fire, which we hope will provide extra reassurance for our tenants.