Grenfell Tower to be dismantled as families react with anger

But the head of a local residents’ association told Radio 4’s The World Tonight he and “the overwhelming majority” of local residents supported the decision to take down the tower.

Mushtaq Lasharie, a local resident and chairman of Lancaster West Estate Residents Association, told Radio 4: “We were waiting over seven-and-a-half years for a closure and I hope this decision will bring a closure.

“When we surveyed a few years back the overwhelming majority wanted to take it out and the reason is, number one, it is dangerous, number two, it reminds us every day.”

Emma O’Connor, who lived on 20th floor of tower and escaped the fire that night, told Radio 4’s Today programme she thought the tower should be “taken down from the top to the 10th floor which they say is the most unstable so it then can be erected into a standing memorial”.

“We understand it’s unsafe but if it’s out of sight, it will be definitely be out of mind for those responsible for the tragic deaths,” she said.

Ms O’Connor was in the meeting with Rayner and said survivors and relatives were told ‘I’ve made this decision, I’ll take questions now’, but said officials “didn’t answer how they came to the decision” to dismantle the tower.

Emma Dent Coad, who was Labour MP for Kensington at the time of the Grenfell fire and is now an independent councillor on Kensington and Chelsea Council, said a lot of the bereaved and families were “absolutely distraught”.

She said: “We’ve been told the work will start after the 8th anniversary which is this coming June and will be gone by the 10th so that may take two years to deconstruct as they’re calling it.”

She said while there were concerns from the local community about public health issues, some of the bereaved wanted the tower to stay – “a lot of people regarded it as a sacred site”.