OFFICERS are racing to have flammable cladding removed from Windrush and Evenlode Tower as contractors across the UK face unprecedented demand.

 

On Monday Oxford City Council revealed that newly-fitted cladding covering 50 per cent of the two blocks in Blackbird Leys had failed government fire safety tests.

 

Staff and leader Bob Price had been informed of the result on Saturday and the council has already committed to footing the bill.

 

But at a meeting of Blackbird Leys Parish Council on Tuesday night, Stephen Clarke, the head of housing and property services, said the whole operation could prove a logistical nightmare.

 

He said: “This is happening to hundreds of tower blocks nationally. People are trying to respond and the industry is struggling to cope.

 

“We are ahead of the game, but contractors and the hiring of mast climbers will be in short supply.”

 

At least 79 people perished in last week’s inferno at Grenfell Tower in London.

 

Since then cladding on 120 high-rise blocks across 37 local authorities has failed tests by the Building Research Establishment.

 

Mr Clarke said: “I suspect it will be a 100 per cent fail rate across the board.

 

“The government has made no commitment to cover anybody’s costs.

 

“The council is not worried about that; we’re going to pay for it and if we don’t get it back, we don’t get it back, but we are going to make a big fuss about it.”

 

Fortem, the firm currently carrying out £20m refurbishment works on Oxford’s five towers, has now been informally instructed by the council to start stripping the Blackbird Leys structures.

 

It cost £1.4m to put the cladding on during 2016.

 

Underneath it is a layer of insulation called Rockwool Duo Slab.

 

Mr Clarke added: “We need a time frame for new cladding. If there is a significant delay the Rockwool will start to degrade and we would need to remove it.”

 

The meeting followed a fraught drop-in session on Monday night in Blackbird Leys, attended by 34 of the 120 affected households.

 

A handful of residents also attended on Tuesday and continued to express fears for their safety in the event of a fire.

 

Dave Bray, fire protection manager for Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue, said the situation at Grenfell had been ‘totally different’ but a leaflet detailing fire safety measures, and evacuation plans, was being prepared for residents this week.

 

He said: “If it gets to the right temperature, everything will burn. What matters is building that system.”