Fire rages on the 11th floor of Lakanal House in Camberwell PAUL WOOD

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RESIDENTS forced to move out of a south London tower block after a blaze ripped through the building will receive £4,700 each in compensation.

The fire at Lakanal House, Camberwell, on 3 July claimed six lives and Southwark Council is considering demolishing the block.

Owners of any of the 98 flats will be paid the market value of their property plus 10 per cent under the compensation scheme.

The payments are being made under the 1973 Land Compensation Act.

Any additional compensation for stress, injuries or deaths caused by the fire will depend on the London Fire Brigade’s official report into the cause of the blaze.

Many of those made homeless have been placed in temporary council accommodation and are waiting to be permanently rehoused.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said: “Considering what we have been through it’s not a lot of money. Our lives have been shattered and many of us still do not have a permanent home.”

But Paul Noblet, Southwark counciller for regeneration, said: “Our priority is to ensure each resident involved in the tragic fire has the housing, financial and emotional support they need to get on with their lives.

“In addition to the discretionary payments of at least £500 we have already made to families, they will also receive a statutory payment of £4,700, a £1,400 start-up pack including new furniture, and £500 towards moving costs to help residents make a fresh start.

"We are also offering other support in kind, such as a removals service."

A preliminary investigation revealed that the probable cause of the fire was a faulty TV set.

But the council is under increasing pressure after it was revealed today that some of its tower blocks breach fire safety regulations.

London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority has served enforcement notices around the borough, ordering it to install better safety measures.

The legal orders call for a string of changes to three council blocks, including the neighbouring building to Lakanal House.

Southwark Council has previously released files showing it knew in 2000 that the block posed a risk of fire spreading rapidly.

Dayana Francisquini, 26, and her children, Thais, six, and Filipe, three, died in the blaze. Helen Udoaka, 34, her three-week-old daughter Michelle, and fashion designer Catherine Hickman, 31, were also killed.