Plans for 51-storey London tower with one staircase paused

Developer asks for application to be taken off agenda, hours after fire safety concerns raised in Guardian

A property developer bidding to build a 51-storey apartment tower with only one staircase has put its planning application on hold just hours after the Guardian exposed fire safety concerns.

On Thursday evening Ballymore had planned to seek approval for one of the UK's tallest residential buildings close to Canary Wharf in east London, but withdrew its application after fire safety experts branded as madness" its plan to build more than 400 flats in a tower two-and-a-half times the height of Grenfell with just one staircase.