FAMILIES living on an estate where a mother and daughter died in a house blaze are furious after their call for escape windows was refused.

They say their homes on the Lower Grange estate are "death traps" after Bradford Council turned down their plea for safety improvements.

They are incensed after the Council only offered them smoke alarms following February's horror blaze.

Residents say they should benefit from new building regulations, which were introduced eight years ago - the same year as their homes were refurbished - which stipulated all new and refurbished homes must have a window large enough for people to escape through.

Residents say the current bedroom windows - about 3ft by 2ft - are too small to get through in the event of fire.

In a letter to campaign leader Peter Hall, the Council's strategic director of housing and environment Protection, Patrick Howley, said smoke alarms would be fitted at the properties.

But he added: "There are no plans at present to have an escape window."

Mr Hall has demanded to know why, when refurbishment on the estate began in May 1990, the estate missed out.

"Someone must have known that these regulations were coming into place, before work started," he said.

A Council spokesman said it was willing to meet residents to investigate their complaints.

Mr Hall said residents welcomed the smoke alarms but added: "It would be better to know that you can get out of the house, in an emergency.

"I think it is morally wrong for the Council not to provide residents with proper fire escapes, we do not want another tragedy."

And his neighbour Billy Speight said since the problem was highlighted in the T&A last month dozens of worried mothers had approached him.

"One mother told me after she read the story she could not sleep at night because she was so worried about the safety of her children," he said.

Mr Speight said: "It's like the Council does not seem to care. But it is us who has to live in these death traps."

The residents' safety campaign has followed the deaths of Rose Adam, 38, and her 18-year-old daughter.

They are believed to have been trapped upstairs, when a blaze swept through their home in nearby Vivien Road.

Mr Hall is now planning to set up a meeting with neighbours to discuss their next move. His wife Marie has not ruled out a march on City Hall.

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