Residents concerned over Sandwell panel removal after Grenfell Tower fire
Residents living at a block of flats have spoken of their concerns after panels were removed in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire in London.
Panels have been taken off four blocks in West Bromwich and Oldbury after 'issues' were raised following safety checks.
Sandwell Council bosses have insisted the blocks are safe and that the boards were removed as a precaution. The panels are different to the cladding used at Grenfell Tower.
But the work has left some people living at Astbury Court in Oldbury unsettled.
The flats on Hereford Road are home to mainly elderly and disabled residents.
Sandra Chuma, aged 50, who moved to the UK from Zimbabwe in 2000, said: "It is really worrying. I don't feel safe.
"Anything can happen after what happened in London. It makes you feel like it wasn't done properly in the first place and that they weren't thinking about the people inside.
"We're not stupid. We know they have come down for a reason.
"It makes me feel sad. This sort of thing shouldn't happen in England."
Anne O'Connor, 65, who has lived in the block for 10 years, said: "The panels shouldn't have gone up in the first place. I'm glad they are taking them down but they shouldn't have to do this.
"It is a safety precaution more than anything else.
"If ever there was a fire here it would be awful. I don't walk very far without an aide and there are many older than me here."
Michael Waterhouse, a resident at Astbury Court for 27 years, said he felt the work was 'a bit of a knee-jerk reaction'.
He added: "They are taking the panels away because they have got to show the residents they are doing something, whether they are doing something or not."
But asked if he thought it should take a disaster like the Grenfell fire for action to be taken, he said: "It shouldn't."
David Povey, 65, said: "They modernised the block a few years ago. It's a panic from London, if that doesn't happen there is no panic.
"But it does make you think."
Workman were removing panels from the flats yesterday. They have also been taken off Lawrence Court, Oldbury and Neale House and Macauley House in West Bromwich.
Sandwell Council's leader Steve Eling insisted last week that all tower blocks in the borough met fire safety regulations.
