Grenfell Tower cladding is banned in the UK, Chancellor reveals

Chancellor Philip Hammond has said that the controversial non-fire resistant cladding fitted to Grenfell Tower was in fact banned in the UK.

In the days after the tragedy occurred, attention has focused on the the panels that were fitted to the outside of the tower in 2011, that have been labelled flammable by German and US authorities and banned from use on high rise buildings.

Asked about this by the BBC's Andrew Marr, The Chancellor said: "My understanding is the cladding in question, this flammable cladding which is banned in Europe and the US, is also banned here.

"So there are two separate questions. One, are our regulations correct, do they permit the right kind of materials and ban the wrong kind of materials? The second question is were they correctly complied with? "That will be a subject that the inquiry will look at. It will also be a subject that the criminal investigation will be looking at." Hammond also suggested that in the days since the fire the government had been given advice that retro-fitting the type of sprinkler systems that were missing from Grenfell Tower is not always the best course of action, in contradiction to statements made by the Fire Brigade Union and in the report into the Lakanal House fire in 2013, which killed six people in South London.

Two London Tube lines were partly suspended on Saturday over fears that passengers could be hit by falling debris from the charred Grenfell Tower. The Hammersmith and City Line were suspended between Edgware Road and Hammersmith amid concerns that debris could fall on to the tracks, BBC reported.

The Circle Line was also closed partly due to the fire and partly because of planned engineering work. Transport for London (TfL) said the move had been made "at the request of the London Fire Brigade".

Meanwhile, posting horrifying pictures of a Grenfell Tower victim on Facebook has landed a man in jail in Britain.

Omega Mwaikambo, 43, was sentenced to three months at Westminster Magistrates' Court after he admitted to posting the pictures, The Independent reported.

According to the Scotland Yard, Mwaikambo was found guilty of malicious communications offences. Mwaikambo was arrested after images were posted online of what appeared to be a partially-covered body following the blaze in North Kensington, west London.