Residents of Invicta House tower block in Margate have been plagued by fires this month and it’s not the first time.

Some of those in the 14-storey block are left fearing for their safety, saying that the situation is also affecting their health.

Matt Leclere went to speak to them to find out what they want to be done about their situation.

Walking inside the tower block, sited amid a densely populated housing estate, there is an immediate acrid smell where smoke has clearly infiltrated the building.

A spate of recent blazes have put everyone on edge.

With recent tragedies still fresh in everyone’s mind, it is little wonder residents at Margate’s Invicta House are more than a little anxious.

One resident, who did not want to be named, says people are “living in fear” as a result of the recent fires adding he wouldn’t have chosen to live in the building given the issues they have to deal with.

Others I spoke to say they have trouble sleeping and are kept up by the fire alarms.

One had decided not to take their sleeping pills because they didn’t want to fall asleep and miss the fire alarm going off.

The latest round of fires - four in the space of a week between July 7 and July 13 - are now being investigated as arson.

It’s evident the anti-social behaviour issues and fires have taken their toll on residents and is even starting to threaten their health.

“I just want it to stop. It’s too frequent,” one woman tells me.

“It was in the middle of the night for two and a half hours.

"Unless the fire service shut it off it just goes on. I have insomnia so when it goes off at night it doesn’t help me.

"If there’s a major fire I get really anxious.”

Sean Shergold, says he is concerned for his own safety, describing the situation of living knowing a fire could start as “daunting”.

“You never know where the fire is. I just shut the doors and make sure it’s fine,” he says.

“It’s the bin chute one day but what might it be tomorrow? It does worry me, am I actually safe?

“What if I go to sleep and don’t hear the alarms going off?”

Another resident claims he woke up to find smoke in his room from the bin chute before the alarms went off.

“I was woken up twice. First thing I knew there was smoke in my bedroom before the alarm. Rubbish gets stuck in the chute and jammed in the seal.

“On the top floor it acts like a chimney and fills up.

“It’s not great.

“Hopefully they catch those who are doing this and get the cameras working.”

Extra security has been drafted in as an attempt to deter people from getting into the building and setting it alight again. But residents say there have been security issues for years.

Igorious Juodeikis, who works as a trawlerman, says: “With the door sometimes you can jerk it open.

"I think the security door is the main concern especially in the middle of the night. If the council decide to sort out security that would be best.”

Thanet District Council and East Kent Housing, which manages the property, are promising to upgrade the building by spending money on a new front entrance and communal doors - a move which is being welcomed by residents, who say it is long overdue.

But a resident on one of the upper floors says he believes the maintenance carried out so far has been done at the “minimum” level.

“They promised us to fix the doors last year but haven’t.

"If the cameras worked they’d see the times of the fire. They could do something about those responsible. They don’t work so they run riot.”

The contract for improved fire safety measures and improving building security went out for tender earlier this year and East Kent Houseing says work is due to start “imminently”.

But for the residents of Invicta House, imminently can’t come soon enough.

For more news on fires in the county, click here.

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