The Government's own fire inspectors warned of cladding risks last year

Building regulations were said to be 'adequate'

Cladding being removed from the side of a tower block (Reuters)

The Government’s own fire inspectors told it last year that tower blocks were covered in flammable material, but that regulations were “adequate”, it has been reported.

Sky News says the Building Research Establishment, now BRE Global, sent reports of the Department for Communities and Local Government in 2016 warning of risks.

The reports say: “With the exception of one or two unfortunate cases, there is currently no evidence from BRE Global's fire investigations for DCLG to suggest that current building regulation recommendations, to limit vertical fire spread up the exterior of high rise buildings, are failing in their purpose.”

The Independent has contacted the BRE for comment on this story but has not received a response.

BRE, which has influenced fired regulations since 1948, said fire regulations were “adequate”. It has been working for DCLG since 2007 to provide information that could help improve building regulations.

The organisation is currently testing cladding from high rise buildings in response to the Grenfell Tower fire, in which at least 79 people are thought to have died.

The Communities department said last week that councils should “immediately” take action if they had flammable cladding that did not pass tests.