Prince Harry cheers Grenfell Tower volunteers with visit

Prince Harry cheers Grenfell Tower volunteers with visit

Prince Harry has helped sort donations for Grenfell Tower survivors as it was revealed sixty other tower blocks across the UK have failed new tougher fire safety tests.

Nine of the 60 failed buildings are believed to be council high-rises in Salford with the remaining 51 a mix of private and public sector housing and office projects across Britain. 

The stiffer tests they failed involve starting a fire under mock-ups of the sides of each building including its metal cladding and insulation.  

Grenfell's cladding accelerated the blaze that killed at least 80 people with witnesses describing how the block was engulfed in 20 minutes because its outside sparked like a firelighter on a barbecue.

Prince Harry today made a private visit to meet British Red Cross volunteers helping to sort through the large number of donations made to the victims of the Grenfell Tower block fire as t emerged other blocks are still failing fire tests

Harry spent around 50 minutes chatting to workers who are based at a Royal Mail site in Greenford, north-west London

60 tower blocks across the UK have failed new stricter fire safety tests and ine of the buildings are believed to be council high-rises in Salford (pictured)

The more thorough tests involve making mock-ups of the sides of each building including its metal cladding and the insulation it encases (pictured)

Fires are then started below them (pictured) and seeing if they spark in the same way as Grenfell Tower

Local Government Association chairman Lord Porter told the BBC, who uncovered the 60 failed test results: 'It was fairly evident from the Grenfell fire that there was more than just the panels that was a fire risk on that building.'  

Prince Harry last night made a private visit to British Red Cross volunteers helping to sort through the large number of donations made to the victims of the Grenfell Tower block fire.

He spent around 50 minutes chatting to workers who are based at a Royal Mail site in Greenford, north-west London, and to Royal Mail staff who have facilitated the operation with the charity. 

According to the British Red Cross, volunteers have so far sifted through around 62 tonnes of donations, with 10 tonnes having gone back to those affected in the west London neighbourhood. They include clothes, bedding and toiletries, it said.

Hundreds were left destitute when a fire ripped through the 24-storey building on June 14, killing at least 80 people.

Adele Hampton, 51, has been volunteering between shifts as an auxiliary nurse, travelling from her home in Kent to help.

She said after meeting Harry: 'His visit is a boost and recognition - not that we want recognition, we don't, but for someone in such a position to care enough to take time out to come and see us means a lot.

'I wouldn't say it makes it worthwhile, what makes it worthwhile is making sure the victims get support. But when someone like Prince Harry comes down here, it's lovely and genuine. He wanted to talk to everybody.'

The charity said on its websi te excess donations were being sold in its high-street shops, with the money raised going to its London Fire Relief Fund, which so far has raised more than £3.2 million.

It reported that some 850 volunteers had contributed 5,100 hours of their time sorting donations since the end of June.

A Kensington Palace spokesman said: 'Prince Harry wanted to visit the volunteers who have given many hours of their time to help sort through the huge number of donations made to the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

'His Royal Highness was moved to hear how generous the public and businesses have been in donating all kinds of items to those affected; he thanked the teams from the British Red Cross and the Royal Mail who have worked tirelessly to sort through the donations.' 

The deadly blaze ripped through the 24-storey block of flats in Kensington, west London on June 14

Police have found 'reasonable grounds' to consider corporate manslaughter charges over the Grenfell inferno, it emerged last night

A devastating fire ripped through the 24-storey building in west London on June 14, killing at least 80 people.

Police have found 'reasonable grounds' to consider corporate manslaughter charges over the Grenfell inferno, it emerged last night.

In a letter to survivors, officers said Kensington and Chelsea council and the tenant management association that ran the tower 'may have committed the offence'.

The dramatic development means town hall chiefs face police interviews over accusations they ignored repeated safety warnings.

A residents' group had predicted it would take a catastrophe to end 'the dangerous living conditions and neglect of health and sa fety'.

Cheap combustible cladding installed on the 24-storey tower during refurbishment last year has been widely blamed for the fire's rapid spread. The speed of the police announcement â€" just six weeks after the tragedy â€" shows the pressure on senior officers to hold those responsible to account 

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell was accused of using the tragedy for party gain when he said the 80 victims were 'murdered by political decisions'.

The authorities have also been criticised for their slow response to the tragedy â€" with comparisons made to the Hillsborough disaster and that three-decade fight for justice.

Corporate manslaughter charges are brought against organisations alone and individuals cannot be arrested. It is punishable by an unlimited fine.

In the letter to survivors, released last night, Scotla nd Yard said: 'There are reasonable grounds to suspect that each organisation may have committed the offence of corporate manslaughter.

'In due course, a senior representative of each corporation will be formally interviewed by police in relation to the potential offence.' Police said they would continue to investigate whether other crimes were committed â€" either by organisations or individuals.

Officials such as company directors can be charged and prosecuted under health and safety laws, including manslaughter by gross negligence, which can carry an 18-year jail sentence.

David Duckenfield, the South Yorkshire police officer who was in charge of the Hillsborough stadium in 1989, has been charged with this offence.

Police refused to reveal who would be interviewed as part of the corporate manslaughter investigation.

G renfell Tower will probably be razed to the ground by the end of next year and its scorched remains will be covered in a giant protective wrap within weeks, it was revealed today.

Grenfell Tower will probably be brought down by the end of next year - and will be wrapped to preserve it until then

Site manager Michael Lockwood also revealed that some flats remain in 'perfect' condition and those residents will return next month to collect their belongings.

Michael Lockwood, pictured, Grenfell's site manager, says that some of the flats are still perfect and those residents can go back in soon to get their belongings 

Mr Lockwood, who has been inside the building's black husk five times, estimates the recovery operation could last until mid-November.

The criminal investigation involving material being collected from the cladding and inside the building could go on until January. 

Speaking at the Notting Hill Methodist Church last night, he said: 'I think that to be honest, the building will stay up throughout 2018.

'Then towards the end of 2018, I think we could start to bring it down, if that is what the community wants, and the scaffolding will help us to do that because we can do that within the wrap.'

Any decision on what happens to the site after the eventual deconstruction would be made with input from the community, Mr Lockwood said.

He added there were some flats in the doomed building that were 'completely untouched and in perfect condition and there are some that are absolutely devastated'.

There are around 33 flats from which personal possessions might now be retrieved. After the meeting, Mr Lockwood said that efforts to get those items back might begin 'in the next week or so'.

He said it would happen 'in consultation with those residents, and at the speed that they want, but we would like to get some of those possessions back to them'.

Mr Lockwood said: 'What we have to be mindful of is that we do that with the sensitivity that further up the building, we are still recovering possessions and remains.'

He pointed out, with the ongoing wo rk moving through the building, that 'if we don't do it soon, we will lose those possessions'. 

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