The firm behind the fridge-freezer linked to the start of the Grenfell Tower fire is facing allegations from the local council that it failed to carry out proper safety testing on that particular model.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) has launched legal proceedings against Beko Europe, formerly Whirlpool, the maker of the Hotpoint appliance, as part of broader litigation targeting companies it considers responsible for the 2017 fire that claimed more than 70 lives.

RBKC, along with the borough’s tenant management organisation, is pursuing the case. The council faced severe criticism during the public inquiry for its management of the fire and its response in the aftermath.

The authority is seeking over £358 million in damages at the High Court from multiple parties, including those involved in the tower’s refurbishment and cladding, and from the fridge-freezer manufacturer, which the public inquiry concluded was where the blaze began.

According to the Financial Times, which first reported the council’s claims, legal documents state the appliance contained materials that could “catch fire and burn easily”.

Lawyers acting for the council argue that the company failed to sufficiently test the components of the fridge model to ensure they met fire safety standards.

They allege that had proper testing been conducted on the materials, particularly the plastic backing, foam, and polystyrene, the model would have failed to meet the requirements set by the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994.

The claim states it “should have been obvious to any reasonably competent designer, manufacturer and/or supplier of the fridge-freezer that the plastic backing was not resistant to ignition and/or the spread of fire”.

Although no defence documents have been filed yet, Whirlpool responded by stating it was “vigorously defending” the claims.

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

Last year, Turkey’s Arçelik and US-listed Whirlpool agreed to merge their European household appliance operations under Beko Europe.

During the inquiry, Whirlpool suggested the fire could have resulted from a lit cigarette rather than an electrical failure. But inquiry chair Sir Martin Moore-Bick dismissed this theory as “fanciful”, adding that the evidence left him in “no doubt that the fire originated in the large fridge-freezer”.

While RBKC is pursuing multiple legal avenues at the High Court, it has also come under fire for its own actions during the period leading up to the disaster.

Quentin Marshall, chair of the council’s housing scrutiny committee responsible for oversight of Grenfell Tower, acknowledged during the inquiry that the council “lacked a little humanity” in its engagement with residents before the fire.

This followed revelations that he had personally downplayed residents’ concerns about the refurbishment, referring to their complaints as “grossly exaggerated”.

The council has stated that it has since overhauled its internal procedures.

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.”

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