An Ipswich tower block resident has described the ordeal as "one of the most traumatic experiences" as she prepares for a new life away from her former home.

Claire Hamblion owned a flat in Cardinal Lofts on Foundry Lane in the Suffolk town and after 10 months is preparing to sell it back to freeholder, Grey GR and move on after five years of "extreme stress".

Cardinal Lofts on Foundry Lane has 80 flats in the building, all of which were evacuated due to risk of a catastrophic fireCardinal Lofts on Foundry Lane has 80 flats in the building, all of which were evacuated due to risk of a catastrophic fire (Image: Newsquest) Ms Hamblion was told to evacuated in February 2023, three months after the first evacuation order, but she did not move into temporary accommodation until the April.

She said: "I refused to leave. It was my home and who had the right to tell me I had to leave it. I stayed for several weeks and demanded a meeting with the fire service to explain their grounds for forcing me to leave my home.

"The meeting with the fire service was one of the most stressful and emotional experiences of my life. When an experienced firefighter begs you to leave your own home with tears in their eyes you know that you have lost the fight."

In October of last year, Grey GR announced that it was offering to buy back the flats from leaseholders, but many of these were under the market value.

Concerns of the risk of a fire were first raised in February 2020 as it transpired that the building did not meet safety standards owing to poor design and dangerous cladding.

At that time, Ms Hamblion had been in the process of refinancing Cardinal Lofts as a buy to let for future investment and discovered it was worthless due to not having the necessary safety certificate.

Then lockdown happened.

She said: "This was for me a period of intense fear knowing that I was trapped in a flat that was unsafe and could potentially be as dangerous as Grenfell.

"I would wake up in the night having panic attacks and my mental health started to seriously deteriorate."

Grey GR, the freeholder of Cardinal Lofts has called the plans to repair the building "unviable and uneconomical" (Image: Lucy Brown) She now hopes to move into her new home next month.

"It took me 10 months to negotiate what I considered to be an acceptable settlement for the property," Ms Hamblion said.

"I feel that in the end, although it took a huge amount of kicking and screaming and stirring up the issue with both government and media, Grey have in the end acted with reasonable fairness.

"Despite the impact on my own mental health, I am actually one of the lucky ones. I’m out. I need to start putting the past near five years of extreme stress behind me."

Grey GR remain in negotiations with eight leaseholders of flats in Cardinal Lofts, with the future of the building unclear after settlements have been reached.