A RESIDENTIAL building was shut down last week after officials discovered it was covered the same type of cladding as Grenfell Tower.

The Hanover House building, originally used as the offices for the driving theory test, was converted into housing in 2015.

Last Tuesday (November 7) the car park was closed and vehicle shut out on instruction of Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue service.

Bracknell Forest Councillor Colin Dudley, Chairman of the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority, said: "The cladding on the building is the same type as the tragic Grenfell Tower.

"All of the residents of the building are fine, and there is no danger to them, but the car park has been closed as a precaution.

"There are fire regulations that the building complies with, for example they have a thorough sprinkler system.

"The Hanover House does not have the other issues that the Grenfell Tower had."

The car park was closed as the vehicles were perceived as a potential fire hazard, given the location of the car park directly under the building.

The residential flats were left open, as there was no immediate danger to the residents, who had all been informed of what was going on.

A spokesman for the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue service said: "The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) have provided guidance for responsible persons for buildings fitted with Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding.

"This includes specific measures that need to be taken for buildings where through a screening process the cladding is determined to be of a type for which interim guidance has been published. One of those measures is for the responsible person for the building to notify the local fire and rescue service.

"Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) has been informed that samples of the external cladding from Hanover House were sent for testing at the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and that the screening process identified that they were of a type for which interim guidance had been published. Since that notification, RBFRS has been working closely with those responsible for the building to ensure that they implement the Interim Mitigation Measures published by DCLG."