Fire chiefs have ordered the closure of a car park in a Plymouth city centre block of flats because the fire risk is so great people must be kept out. Urgent safety measures have been brought in at the huge Ocean Crescent apartment block.
Hundreds of residents received letters just two days before Christmas telling them an inspection found “significant” issues which could pose a “serious threat to life” if a blaze started.
The 11-storey building, in the Crescent opposite the New Continental Hotel, was due to have its cladding replaced later this year – eight years after the Grenfell Tower blaze in London, in which 72 lives were lost. But a survey by engineers ahead of this work uncovered safety concerns.
Plymouth City Council and Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service were immediately informed. The fire service ordered the closure of the building’s car park, on the ground floor of the tower.
Meanwhile, “waking watch” patrols by security staff have been started – at a cost of £2,726 a week. These will continue 24 hours a day, every day “until further notice”. There are 124 flats in Ocean Crescent and potentially as many as 250 residents, including some who are disabled.
A Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We have served a prohibition notice to prohibit vehicles being parked underneath the Ocean Crescent building in Plymouth. We have taken this step to keep people safe following confirmation of building defects that adversely affect the fire safety within Ocean Crescent.”
The rear of Ocean Crescent showing the parking garage
(Image: William Telford)
The spokesperson added: “We appreciate that the timing of the notice, just before Christmas, will have been distressing for residents but we have a responsibility to act as soon as we received the new information to ensure their safety. We hope that the building owner will take steps to rectify the fire safety issues as soon as possible.”
In 2021, combustible material was found in the external walls at Ocean Crescent and it was decided to replace the cladding. On December 23, 2024, residents received emails from Plymouth Block Management, which manages the building on behalf of its freeholder, telling them a survey by engineers of the internal structure had looked at how fire would spread inside and how long before the building collapsed if a blaze started.
Plymouth Block Management has apologised to residents for disruption and said “appropriate remediation works” will be needed but have yet to be determined. It said, in the letter to residents, that it wanted to discharge the waking watch and re-open the parking garage as soon as possible.
Plymouth City Council has put in place temporary, and nearby, parking arrangements for residents in Ocean Crescent while the car park is closed.
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