Protective wrapping has started appearing around Grenfell Tower - exactly four months after the disaster.
Scaffolding has been put up alongside the 24-storey ruin, which will allow white sheeting to be gradually erected to shield the building from the public.
Medical experts have warned the sight of the building is worsening symptoms of trauma for those living nearby, with one woman describing it “terrifying” in a council meeting.
Remnants of the cladding system widely suspected of fuelling the June 14 inferno will also be stripped back and taken away for examination by investigators, authorities say.
Grenfell Tower's protective wrap
Kensington and Chelsea Council said the work was expected to be completed in the first few months of 2018.
A spokesman for the local authority said a double layer of white plastic netting should have encased the first five floors by the end of the week and then go up at the same pace as the scaffolding, around one week per floor.
The scaffold structure is already in place up to the 18th floor on the building’s east face and at the fifth floor on the other three sides.
Grenfell Tower is earmarked for demolition towards the end of next year, but police are still picking through the remains in search of evidence.
Last month, Dr Alastair Bailey, the clinical psychological lead at the NHS Grenfell trauma service, said: “The fact that the tower is still there and is very high and visible from a number of different places, it can act as a trigger for a lot of people.
“So we know lots of people are avoiding the area, some people who are not avoiding the area are actively avoiding looking at the tower nearby.”
And at the first full council meeting following the fire, one survivor begged for it to be covered, saying: “When you look at that building you see the souls of the dead in there .”
Meanwhile, a hoist is being assembled on the east side of the roof, allowing material to be extracted from the upper floors.
Recovery workers are also removing bags of the debris which rained down from Grenfell and piled up at its base.
Lorries have been drafted in to help remove the loose wreckage, which will be taken to a secure depot and stored in metal containers, the Grenfell Response Team said.
Keep up to date with the latest news in west London via the free getwestlondon app.
You can even set it to receive push notifications for all the breaking news in your area.
Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android now!
