British officials are conducting tests on some 600 high-rise buildings across England after fire ravaged the Grenfell Tower block in West London on June 14, prompting public anger over the conservative government's budget cuts.
The results on building materials in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster have revealed that at least 60 high-rise buildings in 25 areas across the UK have failed safety tests, the government confirms.
The tower blocks are being tested for potentially dangerous cladding, or siding, in light of the blaze that left the apartment block a charred shell.
"We expect that authorities and landlords are very sensibly giving the highest priority to buildings with which they have most concern. But we should not be in the position where buildings have such cladding on them. How this occurred - and preventing this from happening again - is likely to be a key question for the public inquiry," Sajid Javid, the communities secretary said on Sunday.
The towers declared unsafe so far are in Manchester, Portsmouth and Sunderland, as well as Norwich, Doncaster, Stockton-on-Tees and Plymouth. There are unsafe blocks also in seven London boroughs - Barnet, Brent, Camden, Hounslow, Islington, Lambeth and Wandsworth. A further 11 areas, accounting for 27 of the unsafe buildings, have yet to be named.
In the borough of Camden an entire estate, housing about 4,000 people, was being evacuated over the weekend. Sunderland also had five towers needing attention.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Saturday that the government is working with Camden Council and others to address fire safety in residential blocks nationwide.
"We're making sure that the resources are there to ensure that what is needed to keep people safe is being done," she said.











































































































































