Cross Keys Homes reassures Peterborough residents

Residents living in high rise flats in Peterborough have been reassured about fire safety standards following the tragic blaze in London.
St Marys CourtSt Marys Court
St Marys Court

At least 17 people died in the blaze at the Grenfell tower block in London, with many more injured and left homeless.

Today, a spokesman for Cross Keys Homes, the biggest housing agency in Peterborough, said they were confident of the safety of their buildings.

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The spokesman said: “The safety of our residents has always been of paramount importance to us and the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in West London on Wednesday is a stark reminder to everyone about the importance of fire safety. Our thoughts are with all those affected: residents, their loved ones and the emergency services who tried so hard to deal with the tragedy.

“We work extremely closely with the local fire service who often use our sites and void properties for training purposes and are very pleased to be able to offer this support to them. On Tuesday we gave permission for them to carry out another routine fire training exercise on our medium-rise block of flats, Cumberland House, at St Mary’s Court. This will take place on 22 June, and the fire service will feedback any recommendations to us.

“We ensure we comply with all fire regulations and review our risk assessments regularly. Our tenants at St Mary’s Court also receive annual reminders of our fire safety procedures. In light of recent events we carried out an additional review of our fire risk assessments. We can confirm the evacuation advice to residents remains unchanged. We urge all residents to ensure they, their family members and visitors are familiar with the evacuation procedure.

“We also test fire alarms weekly and display fire safety notices throughout all our communal areas. All construction materials used throughout our homes adhere to the latest fire safety recommendations. We have around 785 properties which are either low rise apartment blocks or houses clad using a solid render affixed directly to the walls. The render used is British Board of Agrèment (BBA) certified at zero rating for fire, meaning it will not burn in the event of a fire. We also have one medium rise block clad to the same specifications.

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“Our ‘What to do in an emergency’ leaflet can be downloaded from our website for residents who would like to receive further safety advice, or residents can contact us in the usual way with any concerns they may have.”

Yesterday Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service issued safety advice to residents living in flats.