People living in high-rise buildings owned by Gravesham council have been given safety assurances in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

At least 79 people are thought to have died when fire ripped through the 24-storey tower block in North Kensington last week.

The building is owned by Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council and the devastating blaze has prompted councils across the country to review their own accommodation and make sure their tenants are as safe as possible.

There are five Gravesham council-owned residential blocks of six storeys or more.

Carl Ekman House in Tooley Street, Northfleet, contains 52 flats over 14 storeys and has a single staircase, while 21 to 62 The Hive, in Hive Lane, Northfleet, has 42 flats over eight storeys, also with a single staircase.

Gravesham Court, in Clarence Row, near the town centre, contains 136 flats spread over nine storeys and has three staircases, and in Homemead, off Homemead Close, there are 98 flats, nine storeys and three staircases.

Finally, Chantry Court, in Gordon Place, has 89 flats, nine storeys, two staircases and open balcony walkways.

A council spokesman said a number of changes had been made in recent months to make the homes safer.

Fire sprinkler systems have been installed in 49 flats at Carl Ekman House and the remaining three systems are due to be commissioned shortly.

The council said a fire sprinkler system was also currently being installed at the council’s homes in The Hive.

The spokesman said Carl Ekman House, 21 to 62 The Hive, Gravesham Court and Homemead all have a fire alarm system that covers the whole building – communal areas and flats.

Chantry Court balcony walkway has individual smoke detectors fitted to each council-owned flat, the spokesman added.

The council said fire risk assessments had been carried out by a qualified GIFireE risk assessor and annual reviews were carried out by qualified risk assessors.

Cabinet member for housing Cllr Anthony Pritchard said: “We were very saddened to hear of the tragedy at the Grenfell Tower block in London and our thoughts and prayers are with all the families and the communities affected.

“Here in Gravesham we carry out regular reviews of the fire safety arrangements in place at our residential housing blocks and we would like to reassure our residents that their safety is one of our top priorities.

“All of the checks we undertake meet our regulatory and legislative requirements. We have carried out a number of upgrading initiatives in recent months including installing fire sprinkler systems, continuing fire risk assessments and upgrading smoke detection monitors to some of our residential blocks.

“We have run all of the completed safety checks past our independent fire risk assessor and the council has been described by the assessor as being ‘the leading authority in Kent’ with regard to the fitting of automatic fire sprinkler systems to higher-risk buildings.”

Kent County Council is to carry out precautionary checks on more than 400 buildings it has responsibility for in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, it announced on Tuesday.

Although the council has no housing it has a large number of other buildings, such as offices, schools, libraries, care centres and other community centres.