COMMERCIAL buildings used as overcrowded accommodation in Brent have been closed by the fire brigade after presenting "the worst fire risks safety officers have ever seen".
Fire safety inspectors in Wembley have issued six prohibition notices on the buildings being used as living accommodation on an industrial estate in the Alperton area. 
Officers found around 150 people who were living in the six premises. 
The London Fire Brigade was alerted to the problem at the end of October after a fire took place in an office block on Mount Pleasant, six people were rescued. 
A subsequent inspection of the building led to the discovery of seventeen rooms with more than 50 people living in them. 
Fire safety officers found there were "virtually no fire safety features inside", including fire protection between different floors, and poor means of escape. 
An LBF spokesman said: "Inspectors predicted that a more serious blaze could have easily taken place and ripped through the entire building, and residents would have struggled to escape." 
As officers investigated the owner of the property, they discovered another building on the nearby Beresford Avenue. When they visited the offices on November 9, which are situated above a garage, they found similar "potentially lethal conditions" providing housing for 21 people, including three children. 
The brigade was then alerted to four more properties in the area housing a total of around 80 people. 
London Fire Brigades assistant commissioner for fire safety regulation, Steve Turek, said: These buildings are potential death traps and its lucky nobody was killed as a result. Officers visiting these premises have described the breaches of fire safety as some of the worst they have ever seen. 
We immediately issued prohibition notices on all six buildings to stop them being used as living accommodation. Building owners must understand the responsibilities they have under fire safety law. If we find that people are putting lives at risk by blatantly ignoring them we will have no hesitation in prosecuting. 
London Fire Brigade is continuing to investigate other conversions in the area and is working with Brent Council and other agencies to rehouse those affected.