RESIDENTS of a city centre high rise have expressed their concern that action has still not be taken over flammable cladding on the building.

Landmark House is one of two blocks of flats in the city included in a letter from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) which listed 13 West Yorkshire properties with potentially dangerous cladding.

The high rise has dozens of apartments leased to owners who let them to tenants. It is fitted with aluminium cladding.

The other building on the WYFRS list is City Exchange on the corner of Hall Ings and Nelson Street. The converted office block is not yet thought to have any tenants in residence.

John Holloway, a resident of Landmark House, said he and others in the block were worried about the cladding situation.

He looks after his disabled brother on the second floor and said they become stuck whenever a fire alarm goes off because the building’s lifts go down to the ground floor automatically.

“What can I do then?” he asked.

He said most on the tenants on the first floor who were with housing associations had been moved out. The only family left have a disabled daughter who uses a wheelchair. They are waiting for Bradford Council to adapt a house for them.

He said most of the other apartments are occupied.

“We are getting no feedback from our landlord. She only comes and gets my rent.”

The fire service letter came after a report was published in the Grenfell Tower inquiry and there was a fire in a student block of flats in Bolton.

Mr Holloway added: “Why is it taking fires to get action? It’s a hazard waiting to happen.”

He said there were security staff in the building who look out for fires but they are not on duty at night.

A spokesperson for Bradford Council, which owns the freehold of the land Landmark House is built on but not the building itself, said: “We are aware that West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) have written to those responsible for high rise residential buildings with cladding to require information about their plans to remove it. We understand that WYFRS has also written to residents to make them aware of the request.

“The safety of residents continues to be the priority and interim measures remain in place at Landmark House to ensure this continues. We will continue to work closely with West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

“In January 2019 the Council served a formal enforcement notice on the Head Leaseholders requiring works to Landmark House. This notice is currently the subject of an appeal which is to be heard by the First Tier Tribunal on a date to be fixed.

“We are aware that the Head Leaseholders for Landmark House have made an application for government funding to replace the cladding and that their application is being assessed.”

A spokesperson for the owners of City Exchange said: "The Lettings Room was recently contacted by West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) regarding some elements of the cladding at City Exchange. Building control have also been contacted for their advice and recommendation regarding the alternatives.

"In any event, following the advice of WYFRS, all stakeholders agreed that occupation of City Exchange would be limited to the first five floors only to limit the risk to any occupants of the building. The building is inspected on a regular basis to ensure, as far as is possible, that potential fire hazards in the communal areas of the building, for example items left in the communal hallways by residents, are dealt with in a timely manner.

"The Lettings Room are working together with WYFRS and other stakeholders to ensure that City Exchange remains a safe place to live."

In a statement WYFRS said it was committed to keeping residents and firefighters safe.

It said: “We are calling for urgent action to be taken to remove flammable cladding which remains on some buildings across our region.

“Enhanced fire safety (interim measures) were put in place to allow residents to continue living in such buildings following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017. However, these measures were designed to be short-term until works could be completed to remove the flammable cladding. We are now more than two years down the line and we feel these ‘interim measures’ cannot go on indefinitely.

“There has been a lack of action from some of those legally responsible for these buildings to resolve this issue, and following the first phase of the Grenfell report, we feel steps need to be taken, by the responsible parties, to remove this cladding to ensure the safety of residents."

“We have written requesting a plan of action from them and a firm commitment and timeline stating when the flammable cladding will be removed.

“We sympathise with those people living in any buildings affected and we have also written to them to offer reassurance and safety advice in order that they can be vigilant in preventing the unlikely break-out of fire in their homes.

“However, we must act now as the current situation cannot continue.”

“We expect a response from the Responsible Persons for buildings in the New Year and will be making contact once again with residents to update them on the way forward.

“We recognise that a number of buildings have already been remediated and others have firm plans to do so. We seek to ensure that every building affected is rectified to ensure the safety of residents and our firefighters.”