Dozens of exposed gas pipes in Grenfell Tower that caused residents to fear for their safety were left bare despite a council safety expert ordering them to be protected by fire-retardant boxing.
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In March, three months before the blaze, residents told the London fire brigade (LFB) that people living in the 24-storey tower were so scared by the pipes that they are having a panic attack.
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Jevans said that the National Grid assured the council on 27 March that the pipes would be protected, but two-thirds of the lateral pipes were still exposed when the disaster happened on 14 June.
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Neither Scotland Yard nor LFB would comment on the specifics of what is being examined. However, one survivor, Mickey Paramasivan, 37, told reporters immediately after the blaze: There were explosions everywhere you looked, lots of bangs, blue gas coming out everywhere you looked.
LFB also said the day after the blaze that it had not been able to put out the flames until firefighters had isolated a ruptured gas main in the block.
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A spokeswoman for Cadent said: The riser in the stairwell had been boxed in when the fire occurred and work was still ongoing to box in the lateral pipes [horizontal pipes to flats].