A fire warden who cost residents £500,000 has been accused of 'hiding' in a cupboard while on duty after being brought in to secure a block of flats following the Grenfell tragedy.
In 2021, a 24-hour 'watch watch' was deployed to patrol Latitude 52, a seven-storey block in Plymouth, after an inspection by Devon and Cornwall Fire Brigade raised serious concerns about the building and threatened to close it.
The inspection found the building had no smoke detection system, contained 'flammable' objects blocking escape routes and was lined with timber-clad stairs - which the fire brigade found put apartment owners at 'imminent and serious' risk.
The watch consisted of two firefighters whose job was to patrol the building and sound the alarm if a fire broke out. Service charges billed to leaseholders increased fivefold in the first year the watch was introduced, from £1,600 to £8,000 between June 2021 and June 2022.
But despite paying a lot for it, residents have declared the watch 'unfit for purpose'. A video shared with the Telegraph, taken in October 2021, shows one marshal standing on his phone behind two closed doors in a pitch-black cupboard, while the other was reportedly 'buying food' outside the premises.
One resident accused the employee of 'hiding' in the closet. Pro Sentry said service shortcomings were addressed at the time by having staff undergo additional training and discussing possible "credits" to compensate leaseholders.
Resident Andy Grant, 49, said: "As a fire chief they have to stand out and have a noticeable presence. And their presence wasn't there when they hid in the cleaner's closet."
Ivan Ashford, a 61-year-old tenant in the building, said he and his neighbors had no choice but to hire a watchman. Now he says some have fallen behind on payments - unable to keep up with increases in payments - and are "afraid" of future increases.
"If we had not done that, the fire brigade and the municipality would have closed the building," he explains. Plymouth City Council had issued an emergency ban on apartments on the upper floors of the building, meaning residents would have to move out if changes were not made.
The story continues
The 24-hour patrol was active until the summer of last year. During the two years the building had a vigil, flat owners paid a total of almost £900,000 for fire safety-related costs, according to documents seen by the Telegraph. It is believed that almost £500,000 was charged by watch company Pro Sentry.
Plymouth Block Management, the manager who took over the block in the final months of 2021, is contesting the bill on behalf of leaseholders. The Telegraph has learned that £200,000 of the half-million pound note has been withheld from the company while negotiations continue.
The watch was eventually removed after the manager connected the building's fire alarm to a full-time monitoring company that automatically calls the fire department when alerted.
Mr Grant said he feels he has been "robbed blind" and that the £500,000 charged was just "waste of money". Other tenants, he claims, have had health problems - partly, they say, due to the ongoing stress caused by the rise in service charges.
He said: "A lot of people have reached out because of their mental health."
Tenants in the building began complaining about the quality of the watchdog shortly after its introduction in June 2021, as costs for the scheme continued to rise.
In the minutes of the tenant association meeting, recorded in August 2021, the watch was described as "unfit for purpose". A number of complaints were submitted over the course of several months about the quality of the watch.
Several leaseholders are now taking matters into their own hands to see if a trial judge can help them win back more money.
Emails obtained by the Telegraph show residents are contesting a fire safety surcharge of £4,958.50 on each of their bills for the 2021-2022 period, and an additional £2,898.02 surcharge for the 2022-2023 period.
They had hoped for government funding to cover some of these costs, but were told by lawyers that Latitude 52 was not a 'relevant building' under the Building Safety Act. This is because the freeholder owns twelve leases in the building, even though the vast majority are owned by other individuals.
A spokesperson for the Department for Leveling Up, Housing and Communities said: "Building owners must ensure buildings are safe. A watch should only be used in the most exceptional circumstances and should remain in place for as short a time as possible while an alarm is installed.
"Government funding is available to install alarms to end vigils, and we encourage people to apply for this where appropriate."
It is understood fire repair work costing millions still needs to take place within Latitude 52 to bring the block up to current fire safety standards. Leaseholders fear that because they are not a 'relevant building', they will also have to pay this bill.
This could result in a bill of as much as £26,000 each if the highest estimates of £3 million for the works are correct.
However, the flat owners have been given government funding to remove the external cladding - which is why the building is now covered in scaffolding.
A spokesperson for Plymouth City Council confirmed that an inspection of the building took place in May 2021 and 'imminent and serious' fire safety risks were discovered.
A statement from the waking watch company said: "Pro Sentry is committed to providing the highest quality services and recognizes that the waking watch service is constantly evolving."
The statement goes on to say that where deficiencies have been identified, a "fair and reasonable outcome" has been negotiated, including disciplinary action and possible credits.
The statement ends: "We cannot comment further specifically on Latitude 52 as there is an ongoing dispute over substantial outstanding payments."
A spokesperson for Plymouth Block Management said on the phone that they acknowledged the Telegraph's email but would not comment, and then hung up.
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