Safety fears after Canberra Tower fire

It comes after it was alleged that a cat knocked paper into a toaster at Canberra Towers last Friday.

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Emergency services rushed to the scene of the 24-floor block at 3.22pm.

But residents are now worried that they could "burn alive" if another fire happens on the stairwell.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said: “I would like to state how worried I am for my family as there are many fire safety risks in this block.

"There is only one fire escape. There is one set of stairs for all 24 floors to use so if there happened to be a fire on the stairs, well then we are all stuck to burn alive."

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Cabinet Member for Homes and Culture Satvir Kaur said the concrete stairwells provide an as-safe-as-possible escape route.

She added: “Southampton City Council has invested over £25 million in fire safety measures to ensure our council tenants live in some of the safest homes in the UK.

“All of our high-rise blocks have had sprinkler systems installed alongside other fire safety measures, which has helped save lives and ensure incidents such as this one in Canberra Towers, are rare and minor.

“Whilst I empathise with any resident who has experienced a fire in their block or home, the fact that there was no serious injury proves that the measures we have introduced are working.”