Croydon Council has launched an urgent inquiry into the appalling conditions residents have endured at a mould-ridden tower block.

It comes after ITV exposed the shocking conditions that families have been forced to live in at an 11-floor building in Regina Road, South Norwood.

Families living in the tower block say their complaints about the thick layers of mould, severe damp and leaking ceilings have fallen on deaf ears.

They told ITV how they have been complaining to their landlord, Croydon Council, of the leaks in their flats since 2019.

Resident Fransoy Hewitt who lives with her two sons, aged five and seven, told ITV how she first noticed damp and mould around 18 months ago.

Your Local Guardian: Fransoy Fransoy

It was reported that the floors of her flat are soaking wet, with black mould in the kitchen, making it unusable.

Ms Hewitt, who was moved from her accommodation into a hotel on Friday, believes that action has only been taken due to media exposure.

She went onto say that she has not been contacted by the leader of Croydon Council, Cllr Ali since her move.

"For too long I've been complaining and nothing happened and then just like that they want to respond because the media got involved," she told ITV.

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"They want to be like 'oh we're urgently getting them out of there and putting them into temporary accommodation'.

"At the moment, I don't know how long I'm going to be here.

"I do worry that I'll be forgotten about here."

Croydon Council has confirmed an inquiry will be led by an independent external housing specialist.

Council tenants who have been trained to take part in the borough’s housing scrutiny process will be asked to be involved, and the council has also self-referred to the Health and Safety Executive and the Regulator of Social Housing.

The council says they will also be undertaking a review of conditions at all 16 of the borough’s similar high-rise housing blocks.

In a statement online, Councillor Hamida Ali, leader of the council said: “I am absolutely appalled by the horrific conditions our residents have been living in and we will leave no stone unturned in finding out how and why this has happened.

"As our first priorities we have rehomed our residents and ordered urgent safety checks and repairs to the flats.

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“All our tenants should expect good-quality housing and proper care and it is clear that these standards were unacceptable.

"That is why we have begun a formal inquiry, and as part of this we will be appointing an independent expert to lead the process.

"The council will assist them in any way we can, and I promise to our residents that we will do everything we can to make sure that this never happens again.”