The senior civil servant responsible for fire safety guidance knew there was a “clear risk” of a major cladding fire three years before Grenfell but failed to warn the government’s chief fire and rescue advisor.

Brian Martin, who was in charge of fire safety regulations in buildings for nearly 17 years before the Grenfell Tower fire, told the inquiry into the 2017 blaze that he “didn’t really know” why he had not warned Peter Holland in a February 2015 email exchange about the dangers posed by the use of combustible ACM panels in the UK.

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