Bereaved families and survivors of the Grenfell disaster described a meeting with Angela Rayner to discuss dismantling the tower block as a “car crash”.

The Deputy Prime Minister was described as “aggressive” in the way she handled the sensitive gathering during which she announced the building where 72 people died was to be torn down.

The remnants of the 220-foot-tall residential building have effectively become a monument to those who perished in the terrifying blaze which engulfed the structure on June 14, 2017.

A large banner with a giant green heart and the words “Grenfell, forever in our hearts” covers the the top of the tower, which can be seen from large parts of north London.

It was put to Ms Rayner that the BBC was told the meeting with loved ones from the tragedy was a “car crash” and that a survivor suggested the Deputy Prime Minister was “defensive, even aggressive”.

Responding to criticisms about the way she handled the meeting, Ms Rayner appeared on BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.

She said: “Well, I certainly don’t feel like I was aggressive, and if anyone felt that way, then I would be sincerely upset about that.

“I think what I tried to do is take a really difficult meeting and explain to people, and make sure that those that were bereaved had that information, and the survivors had that information before the decision was made public.”

She added: “Now I know that some people in that room felt that they hadn’t been given the opportunity before then.

“I listened to what they said and my conclusion was still that there is not a possibility, really, for that tower to remain as it is going into the future.

“And I tried to deliver that message as sensitively as I possibly could, knowing full well that it was going to be really upsetting for people to hear that.”