CLADDING on two Torfaen tower blocks and one high rise building have passed fire safety tests.

Following the fire at Grenfell Tower the government ordered an audit of high-rise social housing tower blocks across the country.

Torfaen has two tower blocks and one high rise, which are all owned by Bron Afon Community Housing. They are The Tower, a 23-storey tower block located near the Cwmbran Centre, Fairview Court, a 12-storey tower block located on George Street in Pontypool and Monmouth House in Cwmbran, which has 56 flats.

Cladding on these buildings was sent for independent testingand has passed fire safety tests.

Alan Brunt, Bron Afon chief executive, said: “We are pleased that the independent laboratory who carried out the fire safety tests on the cladding systems at our three high-rise blocks has confirmed that they are all rated as A1, which is the highest standard.

“A sample was taken from The Tower and Monmouth House in Cwmbran and Fairview Court in Pontypool and sent to Exova Warringtonfire, a laboratory that does independent fire testing.

“The government didn’t require us to do these tests. We chose to get them tested to be able to reassure all of our residents. On Friday we are hand-delivering a letter to everyone in our blocks to tell them this news.”

None of the tower blocks in Wales have the same cladding as was used on the Grenfell block, but some do have aluminium composite material, including three tower blocks managed by Newport City Homes. The three 11-storey towers are in the Gaer, St Julians and Ringland areas of Newport.

The housing association sent samples of cladding for testing and was notified that the four millimetres of external cladding had failed the test.

Earlier this month, the Welsh Assembly’s equality, local government and communities committee held an inquiry, led by Newport East’s AM John Griffiths, where it was revealed that the cost to replace external cladding on three Newport City Homes tower blocks could stretch to £2million.

Ceri Doyle from Newport City Homes said at the one-day inquiry that the buildings were still safe for residents to live in and added they are awaiting the outcome of further testing before developing a plan.

To view South Wales Fire and Rescue Service tips for people living in high rise buildings, visit southwales-fire.gov.uk