Some of those who lost loved ones in the fire that ripped through London’s Grenfell Tower in 2017 have blasted government plans to demolish the shell of the apartment block, which they want to preserve as a monument to the 72 people who died in the blaze.

Survivors and bereaved families’ groups said Britain’s deputy prime minister had told them that the site of the 2017 catastrophe would be dismantled.

The Grenfell tragedy, which killed 72 people, shocked the nation, laying bare deep inequalities in one of the wealthiest boroughs in the British capital.