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France plans new cladding law after Grenfell fire disaster

France's top building fire safety adviser has told Sky News the country is planning a new law on cladding for tower blocks following the Grenfell disaster.

Jean-Charles du Bellay, who is the head of fire safety at the French Federation of Building, met with the country's Interior Minister this week to discuss what needs to be done to protect people in residential blocks and social housing.

He said it is inevitable that French regulations will be updated to make things safer.

A critic of what he says is poor building regulation in the UK, Mr du Bellay said: "The difference concerning the spread of fire in London was undoubtedly caused by the type of cladding on the exterior.

"In France, in the high-rise towers like Grenfell, we can only use non-flammable materials - they don't burn, they don't catch fire."

He insisted that a fire like that at Grenfell could never happen in France because flammable cladding is banned on buildings over 50 metres high. Grenfell was 67 metres.

However, Mr du Bellay has been asked by the French government to draw up new recommendations which will restrict such cladding on any building over 28 metres - around 10 storeys.

He believes the law could be implemented within weeks.

Acknowledging that it would involve vast expense, with cladding having to be removed from properties across France, he said simply: "Life doesn't have a cost."

And if that change had come earlier, it might have saved the life of an elderly woman and the homes of hundreds more people in the northern French town of Roubaix.

A fire which started on a lower balcony of a tower block in May 2012 spread within minutes to the full height of the building.

It was encased in the same type of cladding as that used in the Grenfell block and was just under 50 metres tall.

Seeing the London fire recently stoked strong memories in the area.

Monique Signabou, who lives in an identical block owned by the same housing association as the one hit by the Roubaix fire, told Sky News: "When I saw Grenfell, immediately it reminded me of the fire at this tower.

"It was the same - another big fire, another big tower, apart from in London it was so much worse."

Following the fire, French housing association LMH removed the flammable cladding from other towers despite not being compelled by law at the time to do so.

Damien Guth, the group's technical director, said: "What we noticed, as well as experts, is that the plastic core inside the cladding was responsible for the rapid spread of fire.

"This is what prompted us to replace the cladding on our tower blocks to avoid risk."

The company said it was a matter of ethics.

But if Jean-Charles du Bellay gets his way it will become law and he insists the UK needs to take notice.

He said there's a lack of clear regulation about fire safety in buildings in Britain which makes major blazes more likely.

"In France we have rules that are written, and independent fire safety teams cross check every aspect of construction against what is written here (in the guides)," he said.

"Point by point, with a checklist. Yes or no. It's rigorous and it's strict."

He added that any building in France over 50 metres has three fire safety officers patrolling 24 hours a day.

If France does change the law it would be a strong response to the Grenfell tragedy in a country that is now investing vast sums in developing alternative, safer materials for tower blocks.