FIRE safety in council-owned housing stock in Brighton and Hove will be reviewed after the devastating Grenfell Tower blaze.

As The Argus went to press last night, the emergency services confirmed 12 people had died, although that figure is expected to rise.

Brighton and Hove City Council responded by calling for an urgent review into fire safety in local authority-owned housing stock.

Labour councillor Anne Meadows confirmed the review at a meeting of the housing and new homes committee. She also led a minute’s silence before the meeting in Hove Town Hall.

A spokesman also said plans were in place to add sprinkler systems to two high rise blocks in the city.

London firefighters remained at the tower block in west London last night as the grisly task of recovering the dead continued.

The cause of the fire and how it managed to spread so quickly are still being investigated.

Residents suggested that new cladding, which had recently been installed as part of a refurbishment overseen by Sussex company Rydon, was to blame.

In a statement, the Forest Row company said its work “met all required building control, fire regulation, and health and safety standards”.

Bosses at Crowborough company Harley Facades Limited, added that they had also worked on the refurbishment and installed the exterior cladding.

Ray Bailey, managing director, said: “We will fully support and co-operate with the investigations into this fire. At this time, we are not aware of any link between the fire and the exterior cladding to the tower.”

Nick Hurd MP, policing and fire minister, said last night that officials would carry out checks on buildings undergoing refurbishments similar to those carried out at Grenfell Tower.

He said authorities discussed “a process whereby we seek to identify towers that might be in a similar process of refurbishment, run a system of checks and inspections, so that we can as quickly as possible give reassurance to people”.

He also said there would be “an intensive process to really understand what happened here and that any lessons that need to be learnt are learnt so that we don’t go through this experience again”.

Some bodies have been removed from the smouldering remains of the building, which contains 120 flats thought to be home to between 400 and 600 people.

Commander Stuart Cundy of the Metropolitan Police said: “Whilst we may have accessed every floor that is not the same as a full search of the whole building, and as I said while we currently sadly have 12 fatalities, I do believe that figure will rise and sadly I don’t anticipate that there will be further survivors.”

East Sussex Fire and Rescue and West Sussex Fire and Rescue both issued statements yesterday reassuring residents.

Both said they work closely with local authorities, housing associations and landlords to ensure high rise accommodation is safe.

East Sussex added: “In recent years we have invested in co-funding sprinkler schemes in East Sussex and Brighton as part of our commitment to fire safety.”