Cladding on 27 tower blocks in 15 areas have now failed fire safety tests

Twenty-seven high-rise blocks of flats in 15 local authority areas have failed fire cladding safety tests, the Government has said.

It comes after Camden Council announced a mass evacuation after cladding concerns were raised following the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Residents of 650 flats in tower blocks on an estate in the north London borough were evacuated late on Friday, but more than 80 residents refused to leave.

Council leader Georgia Gould said the local authority was left with little choice when the fire service said nothing could immediately be done to ensure residents' safety.

The number of council-owned high rises that failed the tests has now risen from 14 - the figure that emerged on Friday.

They include buildings in Hounslow and Camden, as well as Plymouth and Manchester, a spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said.

The news comes amid a national safety operation under way to identify buildings with cladding akin to that used on the Grenfell Tower.

It sparked an evacuation of about 650 properties in the five tower blocks of the Chalcots Estate in Camden.

Up to 4,000 residents – including families with newborn babies and a Second World War veteran – were told to leave their homes by fire officers.

A letter sent to residents by the council warns them they need to be moved from homes for “between three and four weeks”.

The letter read: "The Grenfell fire changes everything. We are taking this action because the safety of our residents comes first.

"We are sorry for the disruption this will cause to your lives, but we will work as quickly as possible over the coming weeks to get you back into your homes."