A senior councillor has written to a cabinet minister asking for more support for residents affected by the town's cladding crisis.

Tristan Robinson, the Conservative councillor with responsibility for homes and regeneration, has written to the housing secretary Robert Jenrick, saying that current government measures "have not reduced this [financial] burden altogether".

It comes after The Gazette revealed that seven high-rise apartment blocks in the town failed cladding checks.

Penthouses at the Cherry, Holly and Elm blocks at Victory Hill, as well as the four blocks at Crown Heights, were found to be wrapped in combustible material.

Cllr Robinson wrote to the housing secretary after councillors passed a motion earlier this year supporting leaseholders and saying they should not be forced to picked up the cheque for any cladding-related work.

In his letter, Cllr Robinson said "that it is the council's view that the current situation is unacceptable and that the costs associated with remedial action for fire safety should be met by the building owner and not by residents whom purchased, or rent their properties in good faith".

He urged the government to "consider making further funding available" for those not covered by existing schemes.

Cllr Robinson said: "The current funding schemes comprising of the Waking Watch Fund and the Building Safety Fund certainly reduce the financial burden on leaseholders but crucially they have not reduced this burden altogether.

"Examples of this funding gap we have encountered in the borough are the costs of providing a waking watch as well as remediation works to balcony floors.

"One other area of concern is that these funds are only available for blocks of flats classed as high rise where mortgage lenders are now increasingly requiring an EWS1 form for those selling a flat in blocks of all heights.

"When the EWS1 highlights failings it has led to the situation where a lender effectively values the flat at zero until such time as remediation works have been completed, which could take several years.

"As only high rise blocks qualify for funding it can leave the leaseholders in the position where they are liable for huge costs towards the remediation works in a flat they cannot sell.

"In many cases residents are not only facing significant increased costs, but are also unable to sell their properties until the buildings are fully remediated.

"As such our residents are still faced with the threat of such costs.

"A motion regarding fire safety was debated at full council, and members voted unanimously to support the resolution which states that it is the Council’s view that the current situation is unacceptable and that the costs associated with remedial action for fire safety should be met by the building owner and not by residents whom purchased, or rent their properties in good faith.

"I would be most grateful for clarification on what funding is being made available to address fire safety remedial works for the affected high rise residential buildings in the borough.

"I would also urge the government to consider making further funding available to reimburse leaseholders for the costs which are not covered by the existing funding schemes."

Currently, the waking watch fund offers reimbursement for the cost of a fire alarm being installed to remove the costly 24/7 fire patrols, but does not cover the patrols themselves.

Additionally, the building safety fund supports the removal of "unsafe non-ACM cladding system on residential buildings 18 metres and over", but there are concerns that certain work falls through the cracks.