Grenfell Fire tragedy: Unsafe cladding removed from Wolverhampton student blocks - with VIDEO
Unsafe cladding is being removed from two empty student apartment blocks in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire last year.
Workers will spend the next three months pulling down the aluminium composite material discovered on the blocks B and C at Liberty Heights in Wolverhampton.
The accommodation off the Wednesfield Road is managed by Liberty Living and is used by many students based at the University of Wolverhampton.
The two eight and 10-storey apartment blocks have been empty since the Grenfell fire last June, with students being found alternative accommodation, such as in Telford and Walsall.
A 25-storey block also at the site, the highest, does not have the material and was unaffected.
Cladding made from aluminium composite material was thought to have contributed to the spread of the fire at Grenfell Tower.
The blaze, which killed 71 people, resulted in West Midlands Fire Service testing cladding on more than 400 high-rise blocks.
A spokesman for Liberty Living said: "In August we closed two blocks at Liberty Heights in order to upgrade the buildings’ fire safety measures.
“External works are under way and we look forward to reopening the refurbished buildings in time for the new 2018 academic year.”
Last August, vice-Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton, professor Geoff Layer said he was working with Liberty Living to ensure students found 'safe alternative accommodation'.
Around 20 per cent of the two smaller blocks had cladding with aluminium composite material.
Steel scaffolding has gone up around the buildings while metal fencing stops people entering the area.
Cladding can be seen already missing from the side of the buildings.
Liberty House offers accommodation at Liberty Heights to students from £80 a week.
