The fire expert who told a colleague that elements of Studio E’s proposals to refurbish Grenfell Tower would make the building’s “crap condition worse” made the observations without visiting the 1970s block, it has emerged.

Cate Cooney, a former building control officer, was working for fire-safety consultant Exova when she wrote the comments in an internal email in 2012, the public inquiry into 2017’s tragedy heard yesterday.

She was the author of a fire strategy report prepared to inform the refurbishment of the 24-storey local authority block in 2012 – and was also subsequently asked for her thoughts on early stage proposals for the project itself.

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