Why no arrests over Grenfell fire? Three giant billboards outside charred tower demand answers from authorities

Activists question police response on eight month anniversary of tragedy that claimed 71 lives

Grenfell Tower activists have parked three billboards opposite the remains of the charred north Kensington block, calling for justice on the eight-month anniversary of the fire.

Campaigners from Justice4Grenfell recreated a scene from Golden Globe-winning film “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” in a bid to raise awareness around the lack of arrests made in the investigation into the fire, which claimed 71 lives last June.

The posters, marked with “71 dead”, “And still no arrests?”, “How come?”, were driven through central London on Thursday before being parked in front of the remains of Grenfell Tower.

Campaign coordinator Yvette Williams said the group hoped the stunt would harness the power of advertising to bring about justice.

“We wanted to harness this power to remind people how little has been done since the tragic event shook this community, and the country, just over eight months ago,” she said.

“These billboards are here because there have still been no arrests, hundreds of survivors remain homeless, and 297 other towers in the UK are still covered in flammable cladding.

“Furthermore, requests from survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire to appoint a diverse decision-making panel to sit alongside the head of the public inquiry have been denied.”

Relations between the community in north Kensington and authorities have been fractious since the fire.

The council weathered heavy criticism in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy over its slow relief response and public meetings between council officials and survivors have regularly descended into chaos.

The police have also been criticised for the speed at which the criminal investigation into the tragedy is taking place.

In December, Cressida Dick, the head of the Metropolitan police, said the investigation is unlikely to be completed until 2019 at the earliest and could take years due to the “very, very, very large number of people and records to either take statements from or examine forensically”.

A spokesperson for the Met Police told The Independent: “The Metropolitan Police investigation remains ongoing; there has been no arrest at this time.”