A WEST Somerset firm’s parent company is to be investigated by the Government over its part in the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Deso Engineering, in Williton, is owned by Irish company Kingspan Group, which was criticised in the report of Sir Martin Moore-Bick, who held a public inquiry into how 72 people died in the 2017 London tower block fire.

Sir Martin’s report said Kingspan, which supplied about five per cent of material for the plastic insulation of Grenfell, had shown ‘persistent dishonesty’ in its marketing of materials ‘in pursuit of commercial gain coupled with a complete disregard for fire safety’.

The Government has committed to carrying out all of Sir Martin’s recommendations.

Housing Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said some firms involved had acted with ‘systemic dishonesty’ and would now be investigated, including Kingspan Insulation Ltd.

Ms Rayner said: “Their disgraceful, mercenary, behaviour put profit before people and exploited the regulatory regime to evade accountability with fatal consequences.

“To my disgust and their shame, some have shown little remorse and have refused to even help fix the building safety crisis that they did so much to create.

“Companies must be held to account for their role in Grenfell.”

Kingspan, which bought Deso Engineering in 2007, is a global leader in high performance insulation.

It was found to have falsely claimed Kooktherm K15 insulation board had successfully passed tests which allowed its use on buildings more than 60 feet tall.

The investigation ordered by Ms Rayner could see the company banned from bidding for UK public contracts in future.

Kingspan previously said there had been ‘wholly unacceptable historical failings’ in part of its UK insulation business but they were not the cause of the disaster.

The Free Press has contacted Kingspan for comment on Ms Rayner’s investigation.