Grenfell project manager denies saying cladding 'would not burn'

Simon Lawrence tells inquiry he offered no such assurances about cladding material

The project manager on the Grenfell Tower refurbishment has denied assuring the block's landlord its new cladding panels would not burn at all".

The public inquiry into the disaster that killed 72 people was shown a witness statement from David Gibson, head of capital investment at the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, that claimed Simon Lawrence of Rydon said the plastic-filled panels were inert". In fact they were highly combustible and the inquiry has already deemed they were the primary cause of the fire's spread.