Melton buildings are checked for fire risk cladding following the Grenfell disaster

The county-wide project is currently prioritising high rise properties of eight storeys and above before moving on to a sweep of six and seven-storey buildings next week.

The third phase will concentrate on any remaining properties containing the aluminium cladding identified in the terrible west London fire.

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue will be notified where any buildings are suspected of being at risk so they can advise the best way to deal with it.

Steve Ballinger, a spokesperson for the county fire service said: “So far, 59 eight-storey and above properties have been identified but these are mainly in Leicester and none are in Melton.

“We are looking at between 300 and 500 properties in the second phase and some of these may be in Melton.

“The team will send samples away for testing where they find aluminium cladding on buildings and if that fails a test then we will notified to decide the next step.

“It doesn’t mean that a building will be evacuated if the cladding test fails on it because it may have safety features such as sprinkler systems and alarms.

“We have been carrying out our own audit of buildings across Leicestershire so we will be ready to act when we are notified.”

In the light of the Grenfell disaster, Melton business centre, Pera, has been investigating the safety of its metal cladding, which was installed as part of a £3 million makeover six years ago,.

Managing director Nigel Brown said: “We have checked with our designer and architect and this is a different type of cladding.

“It’s not comparable to the cladding involved in that terrible fire in London so we will not be making any changes to the building.”

Melton Council said fire safety was a priority with its properties across the borough and none were identified as being at risk.

Harry Rai, acting corporate property officer, said: “The Council has no high rise buildings.

“The tallest buildings in the affordable housing portfolio are three storeys and none of these buildings have external wall insulation, but are of conventional brick and block construction

“The Council has a number of statutory requirements in relation to health and safety encompassing fire safety, asbestos, water hygiene, lift maintenance and gas and electrical safety.

“These encompass public buildings, communal parts of social housing complexes and social housing dwellings.

“The Corporate Strategic Asset Management Team has regimes in place for the maintenance, monitoring, risk assessment and management of each risk area and these are up to date.”

Firefighters based at Melton Fire Station advise all home owners to ensure they have a working smoke alarm in their property on each floor to alert them in the early stages of a blaze.

Anyone who is concerned about any fire safety related matter is asked to call 0116 2872241 to request a free home fire safety check by the brigade.