Residents of Wicker Riverside flats in Sheffield have to move out for a second time over fire safety fears

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) said that fire safety inspecting officers have served a prohibition notice on Wicker Riverside because previously identified issues with the building have not been resolved and there are no means to resolve them.

Concerns originally came to light when safety officers inspected city high-rise buildings in the light of the Grenfell Tower disaster.

The notice was served on Monday, December, 5, but won’t come into force until the end of January as this is when a current enforcement notice expires.

SYFR Assistant Chief Fire Officer Andy Strelczenie, said: “Prohibiting the use of a building in this way is always a last resort, particularly when it will cause so much disruption to those living there. Ultimately though, the safety of the residents must come first.

“Our hearts go out to all those affected by this horrendous situation but we simply cannot allow this unsafe situation to continue.

Cladding concerns

“We’ll continue to work with the responsible persons to try to remediate the issues within the building but this is likely to take a significant amount of time. The notice will remain in force until we are satisfied the building is safe.”

The issue was raised at a meeting of Sheffield City Council by Coun Jayne Dunn. Chair of South Yorkshire Fire Authority Coun Tony Damms invited Mr Strelczenie to give members an update.

The fire service said it originally served a prohibition notice on Wicker Riverside in December 2020 which was removed as a result of interim measures provided. Inspecting officers have served multiple enforcement notices since this time and continued to engage with the responsible persons to ensure the safety issues were resolved but this has not happened within the timescales set out in the enforcement notice, said a brigade spokesman.

The issues with the building include its internal fire compartmentation – aspects designed to stop a fire from spreading throughout a building – inadequate smoke control arrangements and the external cladding.

The interim measures provided can no longer be considered interim as there is no effective plan in place for remediation, said the spokesman. The fire service said it cannot allow this situation to continue indefinitely.

‘Very disappointed’

SYFR is responsible for enforcing fire safety laws in South Yorkshire. It employs fire safety inspecting officers who carry out fire safety audits. If the inspecting officer identifies any fire safety deficiencies, they have a range of options available to them- including issuing a prohibition notice.

A prohibition notice is a legal notice. Where there is a risk of death or serious injury in the event of fire inspecting officers can prohibit or restrict the use of premises. Any person who fails to comply with the requirements of a prohibition notice may be prosecuted.

Coun Damms said: “We’re very disappointed that we’ve had to serve a second prohibition notice and the people I’m most concerned about are the residents who are having this upset just before Christmas.

I’d like to think that the landlords are looking at compensating people properly for a second upset.”

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