HUNDREDS of survivors, residents and family members bereaved by the devastating Grenfell Tower fire agreed a settlement of civil claims from several companies today.

Cladding giant Arconic said it was among the firms involved in the High Court case and confirmed it had reached a settlement with more than 900 people.

The company also agreed to “contribute to a restorative justice project to benefit the community affected by the fire.”

The settlement is separate from a long-running inquiry examining the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the blaze at the tower block in North Kensington, west London, on June 14 2017, which killed 72 people and left hundreds homeless.

The disaster, the worst residential fire in Britain since World War II, was prompted by an electrical fault in a refrigerator on the fourth floor.

The spark it caused lit flames which rapidly spread up the building’s exterior due to dangerously combustible aluminium composite cladding and external insulation.

Then-prime minister Theresa May expressed outraged at the tragedy, but no individuals or companies have yet faced criminal charges.

Those who took part in the civil claim, which does not include all those affected by the fire, were represented by 14 legal firms who stressed that the agreement does not impact the potential for any future criminal proceedings.

A spokesman for the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, which was appointed by the local council to run its entire housing stock, said “a monetary settlement won’t mitigate for the loss and trauma” but welcomed it as a step towards justice. 

The amount of compensation the 900 claimants are to receive will be shared out “according to their own specific circumstances,” lawyers representing the families said.

“It should be recognised that no amount of damages could ever be sufficient to properly compensate those affected,” they added.

In submissions to the inquiry in November 2022, lead counsel Richard Millett KC accused firms of a “merry-go-round of buck-passing” to protect their own interests.

The “spider’s web of blame” created by the refusal of core participants to accept responsibility will make the task of the panel, which must examine the circumstances that led to deaths, even harder, he charged.