CLADDING on buildings owned by Scottish universities is being inspected  after it emerged that a block of student flats in Edinburgh had been fitted with the same dangerous material in the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Universities Scotland said its members were checking to ensure that cladding used on the buildings met the "highest standards of fire safety".

It comes after Edinburgh Napier University confirmed that one of its halls of residence had the same cladding as the London high-rise.

Work has already begun to strip the material from the Bainfield Halls of Residence, which is sited near the Union Canal and can house more than 700 students. 

A spokesman for the university confirmed that the fire service had inspected the site and had no concerns with students continuing to be housed there as normal.

Mo Morgan, Head of Group Marketing for Lakesmere, who provided the cladding package for the university, said "We believe we have fully complied with the regulations in place at the time of fitment. We installed the product in accordance with the supplier recommendations."

The polyethylene core of the material used on the exterior walls at Grenfell Tower is thought to have contributed to the fire spreading so quickly in the early hours of June 14. 

It is believed at least 80 people died in the tower block blaze.

A spokeswoman for Universities Scotland said that universities across Scotland were working to reassess the over-cladding of their building facades "to ensure they meet the highest standards of fire safety."

She said that they would be in close contact with the Scottish government, the relevant authorities and the network of university estates directors across the country to "share best practice throughout this process".

A number of education institutions have carried out checks across their campuses, with some still underway. 

Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh said that it was in the "process of conducting detailed surveys of the buildings at our campuses" and would be updating students and staff regularly. 

University of Glasgow said it had made checks on its buildings and confirmed they had a "non-combustible fire rating and are very different from those used at Grenfell Tower."

The University of Strathclyde had done a "full and extensive review" and said none of the buildings had the same external fabric as that of Grenfell Tower, while the University of Aberdeen said that their review was "almost complete" and had "found nothing that gives us any cause for concern". 

The University of Edinburgh said it had checked its buildings and had been "assured by our specialist in-house teams regarding the high levels of fire safety precautions".

The University of the West of Scotland said its review was ongoing, and had not identified any Grenfell Tower-like panels to date, while Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh said that all buildings are "medium rise" and do not use cladding. 

Glasgow Kelvin College said the cladding on one building is being checked but there is "no reason to suspect any issues will arise", while North East Scotland College said that manufacturers had given assurances about cladding on the Aberdeen city campus. 

Abertay University said an initial review has been carried out and it found that none of the university's properties have been affected by any issues raised by the Grenfell tragedy. 

The University of Stirling said a review found that any cladding was different from that used at Grenfell and relevant fire safety measures were in place.

Meanwhile, shadow education secretary Angela Rayner pressed UK ministers on how school buildings and student halls would be kept safe in the wake of the tower blaze, which claimed the lives of at least 79 people.

And in Scotland, NUS Scotland President Vonnie Sandlan said “the remit of the Government’s investigations must be extended to include educational and student accommodation buildings”.

The Government said that both the city council and Napier University had been asked to keep them informed.