Cladding on the side of five tower blocks in Camden will be urgently removed after tests revealed that it contains a similar flammable plastic to the material used on Grenfell Tower.

After last week's devastating fire at the tower block in west London, the government launched an investigation into cladding on tower blocks in the UK and discovered that over 600 buildings face a fire risk.

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Camden council said it would immediately remove the cladding from the high rise Chalcots estate following concerns that it was combustible.

The construction firm and subcontractor responsible for refurbishing the Grenfell Tower, Rydon and Harley Facades, carried out a £150m overhaul on the apartments in Chalcots estate in 2016.

Georgia Gould, leader of Camden Council, told the Camden New Journal that tests had shown that the outer cladding panels on five tower blocks in the estate were made of aluminium panels with a polyethylene core.

She added that while the towers' insulation met all the necessary safety requirements as it was made of fire-resistant rock wool, "the external cladding panels did not satisfy independent laboratory testing or the high standards [the council] set for contractors."

"Camden Council has decided it will immediately begin preparing to remove these external cladding panels from the five tower blocks on the Chalcots estate," Gould said.

Until the panels have been removed, Camden council will carry out 24/7 fire safety patrols on the estate's corridors to reassure residents living there.

Ray Bailey, the managing director of Harley Facades, said that the cladding panels used on the tower blocks in Camden were Reynobond, the same as those used in Grenfell Tower. Bailey said that Camden council had signed off on the design specification.

"There is no evidence to suggest that this product and cladding system installed in Camden is unsafe. Currently there is no link between the cladding and the spread of the fire at Grenfell Tower," he said. "It is right that questions are asked and there will be many questions about this whole tragic incident."

At least 79 people lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower fire. Many people are still unaccounted for.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn described the devastating incident as both a "tragedy and an outrage" and said Grenfell Tower residents were "let down - both in the immediate aftermath and so cruelly beforehand."

The survivors have received over £700,000 in compensation and been moved to 68 luxury flats in Kensington.