UK: All building cladding samples tested failed fire safety

On Friday night, thousands of people living in 650 apartments in North London were forced to evacuate from their buildings over safety fears.

At least 60 high-rise buildings across the United Kingdom have failed safety tests in the wake of the catastrophic fire that swept through Grenfell Tower in West London on June 14.

The number of United Kingdom high-rise buildings found to have cladding that failed fire safety tests has been expanded to 60, the government has said.

An angry resident has confronted the Leader of Camden Council over its decision to evacuate her from her home in the Chalcot Estate and rehouse her in a bed and breakfast with her four small children.

Despite orders to evacuate to keep people safe, 83 people still refuse to leave their homes, according to the BBC.

The samples were taken in 25 local authority areas across England, including several London boroughs and neighborhoods in Manchester, Plymouth and Portsmouth.

The safety of Scotland's high-rise flats is to be examined by a Holyrood committee following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London. A further 11 areas, accounting for 27 of the unsafe buildings, have yet to be named.

Camden Council said concerns over cladding on the buildings had led to further fire safety issues being identified in the blocks and the evacuation was ordered following consultation with fire officers.

Cllr Carter said: "I have had the initial report which concludes we have 155 buildings that have cladding of some nature".

The political fallout has been vast, with criticisms levelled at everyone from the company that manufactured the cladding used, to the council that managed the tower block, right up to the country's prime minister. The tower's cladding - panels widely used to insulate buildings and improve their appearance - was believed to have rapidly spread that blaze, which killed at least 79 people.

"For those areas still waiting for results of tests on aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding, our advice to them is to prepare contingency plans so they can take any measures needed quickly". Here is the list of 14 local authorities and 33 buildings where it has been confirmed that cladding has been found to be combustible.

The Chalcots estate was refurbished between 2006 and 2009 by Rydon, the same firm that oversaw work on Grenfell Tower in 2015 and 2016.

Theresa May's official spokesman said questions over why the material was used on tower blocks nationwide despite breaching fire safety rules would likely be scrutinised.

"Whilst we are clear that our cladding design and insulation significantly differs to that at Grenfell Tower, the external cladding panels did not satisfy our independent laboratory testing or the high standards we set for contractors", Gould said in a statement Thursday, adding that the council had made a decision to "immediately begin preparing to remove these external cladding panels".