The London Fire Brigade (LFB) says it will not investigate a possible arson in a residential tower block because the material that caught light was rubbish.

Firefighters were dispatched to the Dorney block in Adelaide Road, Swiss Cottage, on April 8, when rubbish in the building’s basement bin store was reported to be ablaze.

But even though it was suggested somebody had already tried to set light to the rubbish, LFB told the Ham&High that it treats rubbish fires as “secondary fires” and does not ask investigators to look into them.

Mandy Ryan, acting chair of the building’s tenant representative association, responded: “I find it incredible that the fire is considered by LFB not worthy of investigation.”

“Do they not realise the trauma and mental anguish caused in the recent past?” asked Mrs Ryan.

A total of 800 households on the Chalcots estate were evacuated on April 8, 2017, days after the Grenfell Tower disaster.

The buildings were evacuated due to a litany of fire safety issues in its five tower blocks that are still being fixed today.

The blaze on April 8 caused enough damage that the area was closed to residents, pending repairs, and alternative arrangements had to be made for waste disposal.

Mrs Ryan, who had photographed and reported the dumped rubbish a day earlier, said it looked like somebody had already attempted to burn it, raising the possibility that the Saturday fire was deliberate.

She said residents were left “very scared” and would “at least” expect an investigation.

Ham & High: Tenant representative Mandy Ryan said she found LFB's refusal to investigate 'incredible'Tenant representative Mandy Ryan said she found LFB's refusal to investigate 'incredible' (Image: Charles Thomson/Newsquest)

Camden Council had said it would wait for LFB’s incident report, warning of “robust action” if the blaze turned out to be arson.

But LFB has concluded that it does not know how the fire started and will not try to find out.

"A rubbish fire is classed as a secondary fire,” it said.

“Due to the nature of where the rubbish was, a number of resources were sent to the scene as a precaution.

"Our fire investigators don't attend all fires, as in this case. The crews try to find a cause, but this can be difficult with these type of fires.

Ham & High:

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"Firefighters who attended this incident recorded the cause of the fire as undetermined."

Camden Council declined to comment on LFB’s refusal to investigate.

But the council is currently reviewing CCTV as part of its own investigation into the cause.