Many tower blocks in Hammersmith do not currently meet fire safety standards. The local Gazette published Merlene's letter which read as follows:

12.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 9th Oct 2009

"Fire safety assessments have not been carried out on 300 social housing tower blocks in London, according to a BBC London report this week (28 Sep), with Hammersmith and Fulham Council named as one of the worst culprits.

34 high-rises in Hammersmith and Fulham have not been checked for fire risks by the Council, according to the BBC, marking the council as one of the worst performing in London (after Lambeth, Greenwich and Westminster).

The report comes 3 months after the fire at Lakanal House in Southwark which killed 6 people, in a building which was known for years to have been dangerous, but which had not been professionally assessed.

We are concerned that there may be breaches of the 2005 Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order, which makes it mandatory for a fire risk assessment to be carried out before major refurbishment. This includes much of the work done under the Decent Homes programme which have been carried out by H&F Council and by H&F Homes.

The Council has readily admitted that many of the estates in the borough do not presently meet decent home standards. However, its preferred solution, to hand over the estates to private developers to be demolished and rebuilt as mixed developments, is an evasion of responsibility.

The Council must instead take immediate steps to meet its statutory obligations including on fire safety and in the medium to long term ensure that the demand for decent affordable housing can be met borough-wide."