Council leaders have demanded Government funding for installing water sprinklers in hundreds of tower blocks, warning that residents in thousands of flats do not feel safe in their own homes.

Representatives of 15 councils from Bristol to Newcastle delivered a letter to Whitehall demanding that Ministers honour their pledge, given after the Grenfell Tower fire, to do “whatever it takes” to keep people safe. So far the Government has rejected every bid from councils for cash to install sprinklers.

It is estimated the works could cost as much as £1bn, dwarfing the £400m which has already been released for replacing the combustible cladding on social housing blocks over 18 metres in height. Since 2007 building regulations have made it a requirement that every new residential tower block over 30 metres tall should have sprinklers, but there are no rules affecting the retrofitting of sprinklers into existing blocks.

Several councils have already announced plans to instal sprinklers in their high-rise blocks, including Birmingham with 213 blocks and Croydon in 25 tall blocks. Other councils calling for funds include Coventry, Dudley, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sandwell, Sheffield and Solihull, as well as a number of councils in London.

The call for sprinklers to be installed in social housing blocks has also been made by the London fire brigade commissioner, Dany Cotton, who said: “Sprinklers save lives, they are not a luxury.” Increasingly experts are calling for a number of measures to be implemented to improve fire safety, with sprinklers being seen as part of a solution rather than as the solution.

By Patrick Mooney, Editor