A block of flats has been left with no maintained fire extinguishers and a back escape route that is locked.

That’s the claim of a resident at St Monica’s, a multi-occupancy building off Dover’s Folkestone Road, in the wake of the Grenfell Tower inferno.

Keith Langsford claims fire extinguishers have gone unchecked for up to four years.

And this picture, provided by ward councillor Peter Wallace, confirms that the sticker on one device says it was last checked in September 2013.

It was due to be re-checked in 2015 but that appears not to have been done.

The building is owned by Dover District Council and the running is sub-contracted to management company East Kent Housing.

Mr Langsford said one of the building’s two fire escapes has an iron gate, which is padlocked.

As St Monica’s is occupied mainly by pensioners, their escape would be hampered if a fire broke out.

He said he has repeatedly reported his safety concerns among other issues to the district council and has now spoken to ward members Peter Wallace and Ann Napier.

Cllr Wallace said: “Fire extinguishers should be inspected monthly and tested annually, as they may have been knocked or damaged by people walking past them in the corridors with shopping or buggies.

“This one hasn’t been looked at for four years. A disgrace.”

Cllr Wallace said that the next extinguisher he found on a tour of the block appeared to have never been tested as there was no inspection date on it and another set of flats had no extinguishers.

He added: “The safety notice on the wall said ‘leave by the nearest exit’ yet the back gate of the flats is locked and no one has a key.

“It is a large metal gate and as this is sheltered accommodation for pensioners, it is highly unlikely any of them would be able to climb over it.

“I am very worried about the safety of the people in the flats.

"I couldn’t see any sprinklers, safety lights and the locked gate is a huge concern to me.”

The concerns have been brought to light after the Grenfell Tower tragedy, when the 24-storey, tower block in west London caught fire on Wednesday, June 14.

By today (Thursday) the numbers presumed dead rose to 80.

Councils across the country have stepped up their fire safety procedures.

Fire extinguishers are not provided at St Monica’s in case residents are injured tackling a blaze.

That was the message from East Kent Housing, which said the extinguishers were all supposed to have been removed by a contractor two years ago.

A spokesman said: “We no longer provide fire extinguishers, as we don’t want to encourage residents to put themselves in danger by trying to fight fires.

“There is also a concern that they could use the wrong equipment for the fire, or use it incorrectly.

“This is adopted industry practice.

“We do not provide fire extinguishers in residents’ properties for the same reason but, of course, if a resident chooses to have one themselves then that is a matter for them.”

EKH says that there are two means of access in the event of a fire, at the front and rear.

Residents had asked for a lockable gate for the back to avoid anti-social behaviour, and all have keys.

The company said it would visit the property this week and talk to the householders about finding an alternative solution to the locking gate.

The spokesman added: “We take safety extremely seriously and if any resident has concerns then they should contact us by phone or visit our website for more information.”

EKH says it regularly carries out inspections on its estates including all individual blocks, as well as checking emergency lighting and testing fire alarms.

All blocks that it manages have fire risk assessments, emergency lighting, and smoke detection in communal parts connected to an automatic control panel, which alerts the emergency services.

Fire alarms are tested weekly.