Worcester flats evacuated over cladding fire risk

A block of flats in Worcester has been evacuated, with residents in 46 apartments having to leave their homes, after fire inspectors said cladding and fire escapes presented a fire safety risk.

Sixty people, including eight children, had to leave Barbourne Works in Northwick Avenue, fire service group commander Simon Cusack said.

He added that the dangers were “so significant and the risk to residents was so severe” that a prohibition notice was issued to the building management company First Port on Wednesday.

West Mercia Police sent 10 officers to help with the evacuation and First Port said action was taken with safety as the “highest priority”.

Residents affected included 52 adults and eight children – 47 of them went to stay with friends and family and 13 went to a rest centre at Perdiswell Leisure Centre before they were put up in hotels.

The fire service had said safety concerns also involved “the ability of residents to be able to escape safely should a fire occur”.

City councillor Mel Allcott said the evacuation came “out of the blue” and people would have woken up to a normal day on Wednesday, but come home to find everything had changed.

“It will be really tough for them, I think. It’s just quite shocking, very unexpected,” she said.

She said Barbourne Court was five storeys high, and not a tower block, but added: “It may seem quite heavy-handed, but it’s really important that they keep people safe, and with the cladding and the fire escape routes both being an issue, they had to act.”

Jacques Cheong, who owns a flat that is currently empty, said he found out about the evacuation at about 21:00 BST.

“I was horrified,” he said, “because that was the first time I actually heard about it.”

He said he waited to hear information from First Port but went to the building himself after he didn’t hear anything.

“I found a security guy. There was no representative,” he said, adding he’d received “no texts, no email, no nothing”.

Worcester City Council provided rest centre facilities on Wednesday evening and arranged emergency accommodation as requested.

A council spokesman said: “The rest centre has now closed and we will continue to support those in emergency accommodation.”

The building is described by local estate agents as a converted Grade II-listed building that used to be a factory.

The 19th Century building, which has an internal courtyard, is described as a former printing plant that was later used as a depot by a clothes manufacturer.

Mr Cusack said a fire safety inspection team had visited the building and had worked with the building management company First Port, the architects and the fire engineers before the notice was issued.

“Essentially, this is down to cladding,” he said.

Referring to the Grenfell Tower fire, he said: “There’s timber cladding on the building, which is an issue, and aluminium composite material cladding on the building as well.”

He confirmed both materials were flammable.

“Really, it just wasn’t safe for the residents to remain there until this has been resolved,” he said.

He said the residents were “so, so understanding”, as the building was cleared.

Asked when they could go back home, he said a series of meetings would take place.

He added: “As soon as some of our concerns have been alleviated and some remedial work has taken place, then we will be able to lift the prohibition notice, but really it’s down to the building management company – the timescale is in their hands.”

Police assistance was sought by the fire service at about 16:30 BST, the West Mercia force said.

Ten officers from the safer neighbourhood team helped to clear the building during the evening.

A statement from the force said: “Senior officers were also involved in a tactical co-ordinating group with partners who led on the evacuation and the temporary rehousing of residents.”

A spokesperson for First Port said it had a team at the site “working closely with the local authority to support the temporary relocation of residents”.

They added: “We understand how disruptive this situation is for residents. However, this action was taken with their safety as the highest priority.

“We will continue to support residents and provide regular updates.”