LEICESTER: British Precast is calling for a halt to multi-storey timber frame building in urban areas as fire swept through a site in Peckham, South London.

The fire started on a construction site where a five-storey timber-frame building had been partially constructed. It was so intense that it soon spread to neighbouring flats. Over 300 people had to be evacuated.

Martin Clarke, chief executive of British Precast, said: "The lessons of the Colindale fire a few years ago have not been learned. That fire which spread to student accommodation and threatened the national police computer at Hendon.

"There have also been a succession of arson-attack and accidental fires since then and only a few weeks ago there was a smaller, but similar incident, in High Wycombe.

"There is clearly a major threat of instant collateral damage and a risk to workers and nearby communities. These types of structure are an unsustainable failed experiment. We call on government, the Greater London Authority and the HCA to act now."