A community action group have said their warnings fell on “deaf ears” after highlighting safety concerns about Grenfell Tower, which was ravaged by fire yesterday.

The Grenfell Action Group said it had been warning about the risk of fire at the West London tower block since 2013.

It said on its blog that it has raised concerns about testing and maintenance of firefighting equipment and blocked emergency access to the site.

The cause of the blaze is not known, but a blog post from last November said “only a catastrophic event” would expose issues residents had.

The group said there was one entry and exit to Grenfell Tower during improvement works at the block on Latimer Road and it had issues with evacuation procedures at the building.

Following the fire, the group posted: “All our warnings fell on deaf ears and we predicted that a catastrophe like this was inevitable and just a matter of time.”

The group claimed access to the building was “severely restricted” for emergency services and other vehicles, and that residents were advised to stay in their flats in case of a fire.

Mr David Collins, former chairman of the Grenfell Tower Residents’ Association, said the building’s management had failed to listen to residents’ calls for improvements on fire safety.

“If the same concerns were had in a wealthy part of Kensington and Chelsea they would have got resolved, but here they didn’t get resolved,” Mr Collins told AFP. “This is a multi-ethnic, multicultural, diverse community that just didn’t get served by the people representing them.” AGENCIES