Defiant Camden tower block residents ordered to leave their homes

Camden Council has warned residents refusing to leave their unsafe tower blocks they will be forced out if they do not voluntarily evacuate so urgent fire safety work can be carried out.

Although thousands of people have temporarily moved out at the urging of the council and the London Fire Brigade, about 20 households across four tower blocks are staying put.

Georgina Gould, the leader of Camden Council, said on Sunday that residents still inside the 22-storey buildings on the Chalcots Estate "must leave".

"This morning council staff will conduct further door knocking to ask those who remain to leave, and issue another letter reiterating to residents who are still remaining in the Taplow, Bray, Dorney and Burnham blocks, that they must leave.

"By remaining in the blocks these residents risk delaying the work that is required and that we are undertaking to make these homes safe.

"It is not safe to remain in these blocks and our residents' safety will continue to be the council's number one priority."

Ms Gould also warned that the council has "various legal routes" which it could pursue to "require people to leave their homes" - however, she stressed: "We really don't want to do this."

Those who have evacuated are now preparing to spend a second night out of their homes.

Hotel rooms are being arranged for those residents who are not able to stay with family or friends during the repairs, which are expected to take up to four weeks.

Four of the five towers at Chalcots Estate were evacuated following news that they had similar cladding to the material which exacerbated the Grenfell Tower fire in Kensington earlier this month, killing at least 79 people.

Ms Gould said that, following checks, insulation was found to be safe but external cladding on the blocks "was not up to the standard that we wanted and was not fire retardant".

Residents are being told to go to the rest centre at Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre where they can talk to council workers who will help them find temporary accommodation.

Ms Gould said Camden Council has committed £100,000 of funds to pay for food, refreshments and other essential items which displaced residents need. This is on top of £500,000 already spent on hotel rooms for those affected.

The Government says 34 high-rise blocks of flats in 17 local authority areas have failed fire cladding safety tests ordered following the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said on Saturday night: "A failure in testing of the cladding does not necessarily mean that a building will have to be evacuated.

"The decision by Camden Council to evacuate four of the five towers on the Chalcots Estate was because the failed testing of the external cladding was compounded by multiple other fire safety failures which the fire inspection team found within the buildings.

"Obviously, those residents in Camden who had to be asked to leave their homes at such short notice have had a distressing experience."

Mr Javid said he had "deep admiration for the calm and stoicism" with which many residents in Camden had handled their evacuation - with some of those affected angrily claiming they were only given a few hours' notice.