One year on from Grenfell: residents of North East tower blocks still feel unsafe

People living in tower blocks across the North East say they're still waiting for sprinklers, exactly one year since the fire at Grenfell Tower.

72 people died last June when a fire engulfed the 24-storey block of flats in West London.

In the weeks that followed, councils across the country replaced the cladding on hundreds of similar tower blocks across the country.

But for Diane Tait, it wasn't enough - she moved out of Cruddas Park flats in Newcastle because she didn't feel safe.

She said:

"I was in my flat on the top floor of the tower block when I saw on the news about Grenfell.

"I just felt sick. Straight away I imagined it happening to us and I looked at my daughter, and I thought how would I get her out - I could picture it being us.

"My mam and my daughter were actually trapped in a fire in a tower block a few months ago and it was one of the scariest things I ever went through."

Tina Drury, managing director for Your Homes Newcastle, which runs the tower blocks on behalf of the council, said:

“Fire safety remains one of our highest priorities and we continue to work closely with the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service who re-inspected the Council's multi storey blocks last summer and were able to reassure residents that the blocks are amongst the safest in the country. Since then, we have completed hundreds of home safety checks and talked to hundreds of residents to understand their fire safety priorities.

“We started a fire door replacement programme in 2015 for all of the blocks we manage and we will continue to work with the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, taking a planned approach so that the investment we make in blocks is effective and keeps residents safe."

Elsewhere in the North East, residents in the Kennedy Gardens blocks in Billingham also said they felt unsafe, despite cladding being removed from the high rise in the wake of the Grenfell disaster.

A spokesperson for Thirteen, who run Kennedy Gardens, said:

“Following the fire at Grenfell Tower we reviewed our high rise buildings. As a safety precaution the partial ACM cladding was removed from three buildings. Works to replace this will begin over the next few weeks. We are also installing new fire suppressant systems in the majority of our blocks. The safety of our tenants has been our first concern and we have kept them informed and updated.”

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service say they've undertaken a significant amount of additional work in the aftermath of the Grenfell Towers incident to assess higher risk properties throughout County Durham.

Stuart Errington, Chief Fire Officer for the fire service said:

“The thoughts of everyone in the Service are with those impacted by this terrible tragedy. It is vital that all relevant stakeholders consider carefully any lessons that emerge from the public enquiry."

Grenfell Tower and surrounding blocks will light up in green to mark a year since the moment the devastating fire took hold and a minute's silence will be observed at 12pm.