A serious fire may result in more serious consequences in a modular building, new research backed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government shows.

The London Fire Brigade will start “a full investigation” into the causes of a huge fire that ripped through a block of flats in Dagenham, east London, in the early hours of Monday.

Officials in New York praised luck after a tower crane’s engine compartment burst into flames, causing its boom and 16 tons of concrete to plunge onto the street in Manhattan last week.

The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) has called on the government to make it a requirement for all new high-rise residential buildings over 18m or seven storeys in height to have more than one fire escape staircase.