More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for sprinklers to be fitted in social housing tower blocks.

Labour Shadow Cabinet ministers will deliver the demand, backed by nearly 104,000 people, to the Treasury today(TUES).

The Mirror is supporting the fight for the systems to be retro-fitted in all council and social housing tower blocks 30m tall or higher, following the Grenfell Tower tragedy which killed 71 people.

Just 2% of our 4,000 tower blocks have sprinklers, which experts say could have limited the death toll in the Grenfell inferno in June.

Jeremy Corbyn wants Chancellor Philip Hammond to use tomorrow’s(WDS) Budget to earmark £1billion to install sprinklers.

Horrific fire at Grenfell Tower in west London (
Image:
PA)

The Labour leader said: “I urge the Chancellor to listen to the tens of thousands of people who have backed Labour and the Mirror’s campaign to install sprinklers in tower blocks, and use tomorrow’s Budget to provide the funds needed to make homes safe.

“It is unacceptable that only 2% of tower blocks have sprinklers fitted, and that councils, which have been starved of funds by Tory cuts, have been denied money for these vital safety measures.

“To ensure nothing like the fire at Grenfell Tower can ever happen again, the Government needs to take responsibility and act now.”

Independent research shows sprinklers contain or extinguish fires in 99% of cases and London Fire Brigade Commissioner Dany Cotton backs retrofitting, saying: “This can’t be optional.”

Automatic Fire Sprinkler systems could save lives if a fire breaks out (
Image:
Getty)

But Nottingham city council had its bid for £6million of work refused in September, while Salford council said the Government was “failing to live up to its responsibility” by refusing cash.

At the Tory conference, Theresa May said ministers would work with local authorities to make tower blocks safe.

But asked about sprinkler funding, the PM said there was “not just one answer”

The petition demanding action had attracted 103,720 signatures last night.

Launched by Mr Corbyn last month(OCT), it says: “Thousands of families are living in high-rise properties in the UK. Nearly all of these homes do not have adequate safety systems.

“Chief Fire Officers across the UK have said that it is proven that fitting homes with fire safety systems, like sprinklers, saves people’s lives in the event of a fire.

“We are urging you to set aside vital funding in the 2017 Budget for local authorities and housing associations to fit sprinklers into tower blocks, to protect the lives of tens of thousands of people across the country.”