REVIEWS into the safety of a number of high-profile public buildings have begun following the horrific Grenfell tower block fire.

The investigations come as Southend West MP Sir David Amess spoke of his decades-long fight to get sprinklers in high rise buildings and Premier Inn revealed “concerns” about cladding on three of its hotels in Maidenhead, Brentford and Tottenham.

The hotel chain has called in an expert to review the safety of its buildings; while other chains have been prompted to do the same.

Travelodge, which has a Southend branch in Chichester Road covered in blue cladding, would not comment on individual hotels but said a review of its estate is underway to see if any improvements can be made.

One of the south Essex buildings being reviewed is the student accommodation in University Square, Southend, which is used by students at both South Essex College and the University of Essex.

The accommodation offers 561 student rooms with about eight to ten students sharing a flat with full kitchen facilities. Also under the microscope is South Essex College, which has campuses in Basildon, Thurrock, and Southend.

Both establishments have confirmed their buildings will be or are being reviewed with a view to ensure they meet safety regulations or need improvements.

A South Essex spokesperson said: “We regularly communicate with the Fire Service and complete all necessary checks on our buildings, all campuses have many fire exits and students, staff and visitors are made aware of our safety procedures. We’re looking into making further checks on our estate in light of recent events.”

A University of Essex spokesman added: “We have reviewed the materials used at University Square and our assessment is that the cladding and fixing system is safe. We are undertaking physical checks.”

A Travelodge spokesman said: “We take our responsibilities towards safety extremely seriously at Travelodge. “Our hotels already operate very differently to the residential buildings involved in recent incidents.

“We have high specification fire alarms that sound throughout the building, we instruct people to evacuate the building immediately and we have multiple fire evacuation routes.

“However, In common with many other businesses and local authorities, we have commenced a review of our estate to establish whether there are any opportunities to strengthen our fire protection measures.

"Should any issues be identified from our assessments we will take the action necessary in accordance with a risk assessment. In the meantime, our safety advisors have confirmed that our comprehensive fire safety measures mean that our buildings remain safe to operate.”