London Fire Brigade is warning more lives will be lost unless the problem of being living in unsafe accommodation such as garden sheds is dealt with

London Fire Brigade is warning lives are at risk from the ‘beds in sheds’ trend of people renting out unsafe accommodation in back gardens.

The brigade is calling for the growing problem of the capital’s “hidden housing” to be addressed before anyone else dies in one of the “lethal fire traps”.

Rita Dexter, deputy commissioner of the brigade, said: “Beds in sheds, garages being used as housing, industrial units being used as sleeping accommodation – these are all potentially lethal fire traps.

“It’s inevitable that people living in these shoddy developments rely on far riskier ways of heating, cooking and lighting their home. They are also being exploited by unscrupulous landlords who are happy to take their money without any regard for their safety.

“The nature of the accommodation means that this is largely a hidden problem in our city and we would like the Mayor to look at ways of helping us get to grips with the extent of it before more people lose their lives or are injured in fires.”

The brigade says there has been an increase in ad-hoc “back garden developments” and it has had to issue eight prohibition notices in the past three months alone to prevent unsafe properties being used as housing,

In March last year a man died following a fire in a garage which was been used as self-contained accommodation.

In November fire safety inspectors in Brent swooped to close a number of commercial buildings being used as living quarters by around 150 people after uncovering some of the worst fire safety risks they had ever seen.

The brigade was alerted to the problem following a fire in an office block where firefighters rescued six people.

A subsequent inspection of the building revealed 17 rooms with more than 50 people living in them.

Fire safety officers found virtually no fire safety features inside and believe a more serious fire could easily have ripped through the entire building and residents would have struggled to escape.