Cladding on 27 high-rise blocks fails fire safety tests

A fire engine sits outside the Bray residential block in the Chalcots Estate. Picture: AFP/Getty Images

Cladding samples from 27 high-rise buildings in 15 local authorities have failed safety tests in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster, the Government has said.

The Department for Communities and Local Government’s announcement comes amid a national safety operation to identify buildings with cladding like that used on the tower block in north Kensington.

Portsmouth and Brent were named along with Camden, Manchester, Plymouth and Hounslow as local authorities with buildings that failed tests.

Four tower blocks housing up to 4,000 people on Camden’s Chalcots Estate have been evacuated over fire safety concerns.

Meanwhile, the latest patient figures for the Grenfell Tower fire show that six people are receiving care in four hospitals in London, two of whom are in critical care.

The news comes just hours after five council tower blocks in London were evacuated over fire safety fears.

Eight hundred households were affected, with some residents claiming they were only informed of the decision to evacuate at 8.30pm on Friday evening.