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Grenfell Tower survivors reduced to tears as they are reunited with treasured belongings from former home

A painstaking recovery process to salvage more than 200,000 personal possessions from Grenfell Tower's wreckage has reduced survivors to tears.

Michael Lockwood, who oversaw work at the gutted block, told of residents' "tears of joy" as they were reunited with their most sentimental items, such as jewellery and photos.

Hundreds of families were left homeless after the devastating blaze on June 14, and police confirmed the final death toll as 71 including a stillborn baby on Thursday.

While residents feared that many treasured items were destroyed, more than 50 survivors were allowed to return to the tower for their belongings over the past six weeks, Mr Lockwood said.

Final death toll: just some of the victims Met Police confirmed on Thursday (PA)
Final death toll: just some of the victims Met Police confirmed on Thursday (PA)

Access to the site has been restricted as police carry out a painstaking investigation, including the removal of bodies.

It is expected to be handed back to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the owner, next spring.

Mr Lockwood, who was drafted in from Harrow Council to head operations at the site, told the Press Association: "I've spent a lot of time with survivors.

"One of the things they said to me was, 'We want to go back in to the tower. There are some very sentimental and precious items for us, whether it's jewellery or photographs, and we only want to collect those'.

"We had 40 of the survivors, we stood in front of them and said, 'You can go back in to the building', and every one of them was in tears of joy and they said to me, 'This is the first time we've ever been listened to'."

A lift was installed on to the side of the building to allow access to higher floors (PA Wire/PA Images)
A lift was installed on to the side of the building to allow access to higher floors (PA Wire/PA Images)

Around 30,000 belongings have been removed, catalogued, cleaned and returned to survivors by a 150-strong recovery team of forensic staff, investigators and contractors.

The remainder is stored in a warehouse near Bracknell until families are able to take them back.

Kenyon International Emergency Services, a company involved in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena terror attack earlier this year, has been removing property from the tower's upper floor on behalf of former residents who cannot yet return.

Referring to the site visits, Mr Lockwood said: "Most came out with big smiles on their faces, with a box of sentimental items they'd managed to get.

"You can't underestimate that moment for them. Going into your home, seeing it for the last time, having that closure.

"To achieve that, we bent every rule possible. We didn't break any rules, but we did something that was important to them, not what we thought was important."

More than 3,500 supports are propping up bowed ceilings and floors in the tower, while scaffolding three times the normal density is reaching through to the building's core to stabilise it.

A lift on the side of the building has enabled items further up the tower to be recovered, which would be difficult to remove through the narrow central stairway.

Mr Lockwood hopes residents of the higher floors could be allowed to return to their former homes once investigators have finished scouring the site.

Victoria King, 71, and her 40-year-old daughter Alexandra Atala were among those who died in the blaze (PA)
Victoria King, 71, and her 40-year-old daughter Alexandra Atala were among those who died in the blaze (PA)

His update came as the final victims were formally identified.

Mother and daughter Victoria King, 71, and Alexandra Atala, 40, were said to have died at each other's side.

Met Police said the huge search operation in the 24-storey block was due to be completed next month, but it is now believed all those who died have been recovered and identified.

Including stillborn baby Logan Gomes, 18 of the victims were children, police said