A RESIDENT says he is living in fear after fire extinguishers were removed from his block of flats without warning.

Peter Lewis Fairchild, 76, lives in one of 19 flats in St Peters Court in Hilden Street — a three-storey building run by Mosscare St Vincent’s housing association.

Last week, Mr Fairchild unexpectedly discovered that all of the fire extinguishers had been removed from the communal areas by the housing association.

Living on the highest floor, Mr Fairchild says the residents have been left feeling unprepared.

He said: “It leaves us with an extra feeling of insecurity. All of the extinguishers are gone and the signs have been changed. We got no notification of why they were doing it.

“Particularly in view of Grenfell, we want as much security as we can get. It’s putting us more at risk, we should know we’ve got them in an emergency. It can’t do any harm.”

The housing association says a fire safety risk assessment was carried out and the removal of fire extinguishers from communal area was a recommendation in the report.

A spokesman added: “It is not normally considered necessary to provide fire extinguishers in the common parts of blocks of flats. Such equipment should only be used by those trained in its use, as there are different types of fire extinguishers for different types of fires. Each must be used exclusively for the type of fire they are designed for, and using the wrong class of fire extinguisher can make things worse. For example, using the wrong fire extinguisher can lead the user being burned or electrocuted.

“Additionally, in the event of a fire the user might try to focus on putting out the initial fire rather than evacuating the building.”

The housing association said that the recommendation had to be implemented immediately and residents’ concerns will now be addressed, along with “a detailed justification” for the removal.

But Mr Fairchild says the health and safety reasons “don’t make sense” to the residents.

He said: “We have got to think of every eventuality. There might be a little local fire in your flat, if you have to just leave the building the whole building could set on fire.

“We just cannot understand the logic. We want them replaced.”