THREE residential buildings in Reading still have dangerous cladding similar to that used in Grenfell Tower.

Aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding was blamed for the rapid spread of the fire in Grenfell Tower which killed 72 people in June 2017.

Queens Court behind Broad Street Mall, Hanover House on King’s Road, and St Lawrence House on Abbey Square behind the central library all have ACM cladding ‘which failed the required safety standard and is not of limited combustibility’, according to Reading Borough Council.

The cladding is on the top two storeys of Queens Court, a block of student flats.

A spokesman for Aparto, the company that owns the building, said the cladding will be removed later this year. He said: “We will be keeping our residents closely informed.”

However, Robin Ford, the building manager at Queens Court, was unaware of the cladding. Matt Kinsey, who has lived in Queens Court since September 2017, said he also didn’t know about the cladding.

Mr Kinsey said: “It’s a bit worrying. They’ve got good fire alarms and other safety measures.

“But it should be made public. I probably wouldn’t have come here if I had known. They should at least tell us. We’ve not been told anything about it.”

Khansa Adam lives in Hanover House, a block of private flats. She said she ‘absolutely’ would like to see the cladding removed. She said: “We were made aware of the cladding, they sent letters and papers. I don’t know if they are going to get rid of the cladding.

“I haven’t heard anything for a few months. It’s concerning, the fact we have cladding deemed to be not safe. But we just keep going.”

Planning permission has been granted for the removal of the ACM cladding from Hanover House, but it is unclear when the work will start.

Builders started removing cladding on St Lawrence House, a social housing block, in November last year, and the work is planned to finish this October. Scaffolding is currently surrounding the building.

A spokesman for the housing association that owns St Lawrence House said: “Southern Housing Group is committed to making sure our customers’ homes are safe and secure.”

A report by Reading Borough Council in November 2018 stated: “The priority will be to secure remediation of the cladding where required as quickly as possible.”

The Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service said 10 residential buildings in Berkshire have ACM cladding and are at ‘high risk’, including three hotels and one hospital. The fire service recently refused to make public the locations of those buildings.

A spokesman for the fire service said: “We believe there is a public safety risk associated with releasing this information.”

There are 354 high-rise residential and public buildings across England that have the cladding and are at risk, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, who also refused to make public the locations of those buildings.