Safety warnings after two women killed in Lewisham tower block

A catalogue of safety breaches at a council tower block where two women died last month has been discovered by fire brigade inspectors.

There were no safe emergency escape routes or fire evacuation plan and the building was judged a fire risk because of its poor state of repair, the Standard can reveal.

The 16th-floor blaze in Lewisham follows the death of six people in Lakanal House in neighbouring Southwark.

The London Fire Brigade served an enforcement notice on Lewisham council's housing organisation days after Santhirapathy Tharmalingam, 59, and her cousin Kunaliny Alagaratnam, 42, were killed at Marine Tower in Deptford.

Resident Sandra Clarke, 49, has been charged with manslaughter and two counts of arson. A Lewisham council spokesman said: "We are implementing all the required actions and will fully comply with the notice by the set deadline."