NEARLY 400 individuals and organisations will be core participants in the Grenfell Tower inquiry after an “unprecedented” number of applications, the inquiry announced yesterday.

This could allow them the right to provide opening statements, suggest lines of questioning, or highlight evidence relating to the fire on June 14 that tore through the residential council-owned block, which killed at least 80 people and left hundreds homeless.

A total of 393 applications were granted, including from 25 organisations and professional bodies, although 111 were refused and 41 are still under consideration.

The inquiry will investigate the flammable cladding used in the tower’s refurbishment, which was completed last year.

It will also look into why residents’ warnings about fire safety failings went ignored and the response of Tory-led Kensington and Chelsea Council and the government after the tragedy.

Controversially, retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick is leading the inquiry. Mr Moore-Bick has been accused of enabling “social cleansing” following a previous case where a single mum-of-five was rehomed from the Westminster Council area to Bletchley.

At the launch of the inquiry in September, he snubbed residents’ questions, which lawyer Michael Mansfield QC branded as “disrespectful to survivors.”

Over 200,000 documents have been received for the inquiry so far, and there will be evidence from 225 residents who escaped the blaze and around 260 firefighters.

A statement on the website said: “The advice from our team of experts is that understanding the conditions within the tower, including the generation and movement of fire and smoke, is of paramount importance.”

The pace of the process has been “unavoidably affected” by the ongoing police investigation, it added.

This week, Channel 4’s Dispatches revealed that the government’s Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) failed to investigate fire warnings about Grenfell – and tenant complaints across Britain.

HCA members are appointed by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, currently Sajid Javid – who was condemned for failing to commit funding for tower block sprinklers in wake of Grenfell fire.

Housing campaigner Eileen Short said: “Ministers are colluding in a growing scandal. Their promises to Grenfell survivors, about new council homes, and action on safety are proving hollow.  

“Millions of homes are still unsafe.  A growing national  movement is demanding action. We will not be silent or let the dead be forgotten.”

Campaign group Axe the Housing Act is holding a Housing Summit on November 25 to demand action for Grenfell and on fire safety.