Kensington & Chelsea sues fridge-freezer manufacturer in latest Grenfell proceedings

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has issued legal proceedings against Beko Europe, manufacturer of the fridge freezer deemed to be the source of the Grenfell tower fire.

Its claim is against Beko Europe - formerly known as Whirlpool - which made the Hotpoint device whose wiring is thought to have been faulty.

A Government investigation in 2018 found the Hotpoint FF175B model identified by the Metropolitan Police as being involved in the Grenfell Tower fire “has confirmed there is no need for a product recall or any other corrective action, and that consumers can continue using the product as normal”.

The fire spread unusually fast up the tower from its fourth floor seat due to flammable cladding unrelated to the fridge freezer.

A council spokesperson said: “We have issued legal proceedings against a number of companies, in line with the council's ongoing commitment to ensure those parties pay a share of the costs incurred against the public purse.”

Kensington and Chelsea in April launched legal proceedings against a set of companies involved in the tower’s refurbishment.

An open letter last autumn from council leader Elizabeth Campbell said the council had acted to promote “the recovery of public money from companies involved in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower and the subsequent inquiry”.

This followed the end of a legal standstill process while the Grenfell public inquiry sat.

Beko Europe has been contacted for comment.

It told The Guardian that it was “vigorously defending” the legal action.

It added: “Whirpool Corporation disputes and is vigorously defending the proceedings brought by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It would not be appropriate to comment further on ongoing litigation.”

Mark Smulian