Flammable cladding that helped the inferno which destroyed the Grenfell tower is already illegal on tall buildings in Britain, Philip Hammond claimed today.

The Chancellor said criminal probes and a public inquiry into the disaster would answer why the controversial material was used.

It emerged today that the cladding installed on Grenfell was not designed for use on buildings taller than 10metres high - a fraction of the 67metre Grenfell block.

The Department for Communities and Local Government said cladding with a flammable core - like that used on Grenfell Tower - was banned on buildings over 18metres high.

A breach of building regulations is a criminal offence with unlimited fines.

Philip Hamomnd told the BBC'd Andrew Marr today that flammable cladding which fuelled the inferno which destroyed the Grenfell tower is already illegal in Britain

Since the devastating blaze, which killed at least 58, suspicion has focused on how and why the cladding on the building both burned and helped the fire spread by acting a chimney.

It has emerged the cladding used was a cheaper option chosen during a recent refurbishment of Grenfell. Spending just £6,000 more would have meant a non-flammable product.

Mr Hammond told Marr: 'My understanding the cladding in question - this flammable cladding that is banned in Europe and the US - is also banned here.

'So there are two separate questions. 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 question the inquiry will look at, it will also be a question the separate criminal investigation will be looking at.'

Since the devastating blaze (pictured), which killed at least 58, suspicion has focused on how and why the cladding on the building both burned and helped the fire spread by acting a chimney

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government told the Sunday Times: 'Cladding using a composite aluminium panel with a polyethylene core should not be used for cladding on a building taller than 18m.'

CORBYN MAKES GRENFELL JIBE AT MAY Jeremy Corbyn (pictured today on Peston on Sunday) has jibed some people care to a 'deeper extent' than others Jeremy Corbyn has jibed some people care to a 'deeper extent' than others in a brutal assault on Theresa May's handling of the Grenfell fire disaster. The Labour leader renewed his demand for the requisitioning of empty homes owned by the wealthy to accommodate the victims. Mr Corbyn said he could not understand why delayed passengers at Heathrow can always be accommodated in free hotels but the hundreds left homeless at Grenfell were not. The Government's bungled handling of the disaster last night forced Mrs May to apologise over aid on the ground and to call in the Red Cross to help. Mr Corbyn told ITV's Peston on Sunday: 'I think everybody cares to an extent - some to a deeper extent and some show empathy in a different way to others. 'The real issue is now about what we as individuals feel - Theresa May, me or anybody else - it's what those people are going through. 'It's unimaginable, you watch people burnt to death, jumping from windows of a flat. 'And then you have a very large number of people looking for somewhere to live now because the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea does not have the capacity for the crisis.' Advertisement

DCLG could not confirm what material was installed on the Grenfell Tower.

But the description given does match the Reynobond PE used when the block was overhauled last year.

The Chancellor vowed the Government would address any issues raised by the public inquiry when it reports.

But he ducked immediate questions, such as whether sprinkler systems should be immediately installed.

Mr Hammond said the inquiry must be allowed to investigate the issues and make its recommendations.

He said: 'My understanding is that the best expert advice is that retrofitting sprinklers may not always be the best technical way of ensuring fire safety in a building.'

Mr Hammond added: 'The commitment that government should make, and I'll make it now, is that when the inquiry produces its evidence, and I don't mean in years time because we are going to ask them to produce interim findings, when it produces its findings, we will act on them.'

Pressed on why the Government did not implement the finding of a report into a 2009 fire in Southwark, Mr Hammond said: 'We've looked at those recommendations and what's happened to them.

'My assessment is that we have responded correctly and appropriately to those recommendations.'

The Mail on Sunday revealed today the cut-price cladding blamed for the Grenfell Tower inferno was installed against the maker's advice that it was too dangerous to use on high buildings.

Manufacturers' instructions say it is 'crucial' that the panels should not be fitted above 10 metres (32ft). Yet contractors installed them on the full 24 floors of the block, reaching 67 metres (220ft).

Housing chiefs in Kensington and Chelsea now face an investigation over the work, carried out at a cost of £2.6 million. Using the dangerously flammable panels instead of a fire-safe option saved just a few thousand pounds.

Mr Hammond was challenged by the BBC's Andrew Marr today on why the material - which is banned in America and Germany - was used on British homes

The contractors, Harley Facades, will also come under scrutiny in the official inquiry. The firm's owners, Ray and Belinda Bailey, have not spoken since the fire, and there was no sign of them yesterday at their £1 million East Sussex home.

Last night, safety experts said the decision to use the panels was 'disturbing' as the cladding contributed directly to flames spreading up and down the tower block and trapping terrified residents inside.

The panels which transformed Grenfell Tower from a safe tower block into a deathtrap were made by the US company Arconic.

Called Reynobond PE, they are made from aluminium and polyethylene, which is also used to make plastic bags and bottles.

Search for bodies and building assessment continues at Grenfell Tower after this week's fire

This brochure from Arconic shows how the firm recommended using an 'incombustible' material on buildings higher than 10m

Documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday from Arconic clearly show that its cladding products containing polyethylene (PE) should not be used on buildings over a height of 10 metres.

Arconic said: 'It is crucial to choose the adapted products in order to avoid the fire spreading to the whole building. Especially when it comes to facades and roofs, the fire can spread extremely rapidly.

'It is especially crucial for public establishments. Buildings are also classified according to their height, which will define which materials are safer to use. Another important rule when it comes to the height of buildings concerns the accessibility of the fire brigade – as soon as the building is higher than the firefighters' ladders, it has to be conceived [sic] with an incombustible material.'

The company provides its customers with a height guidance table. While PE can be used up to 10 metres, products which are fire retardant should be used on buildings up to 30 metres. Above that height – the limit of American fire ladders – Arconic strictly advises cladding panels containing non-combustible substances.

When it comes into contact with fire, the PE plastic melts, drips and burns, which would explain why the fire spread downwards as well as upwards over the exterior of Grenfell Tower.

Around 3,125 square metres of PE panels were used to coat the tower block in a bid to improve its appearance and boost insulation.

Polyethylene has also been linked to a number of rapidly spreading fires around the world and is now generally avoided in the construction of tall buildings overseas. Yet in spite of the dangers it poses, PE remains legal under UK building regulations and it is estimated to have been used in 30,000 buildings.

Last night, fire safety expert Phil Barry, of the CWB consultancy, said: 'It is disturbing and shocking that these panels were used in the tower, contrary to the manufacturer's instructions, especially as you've got Arconic stating it in black and white.

'It also really demonstrates the inadequacy of the building regulations in this country that polyethylene can be used as an ingredient in cladding materials. I simply don't understand why it is still being used in high-rise buildings in the UK.'

The addition of the polyethylene and aluminium panels to Grenfell Tower last year meant that the tower had to undergo a new fire risk assessment.

However, the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) responsible for the building refused to release any of the report's contents.

The KCTMO chose the safety consultants that put in the cheapest bid to carry out the work. The unnamed bidder was also chosen because they were happy to challenge the London Fire Brigade over its safety rules, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

In a report to her board of directors, KCTMO official Janice Wray said that a consultancy had been found which 'offered the best quality and also the most competitive price'. Controversially, she added that the winning bidder was 'willing to challenge the fire brigade on our behalf if he considered their [safety] requirements to be excessive'.