Police are considering manslaughter charges for those responsible for the Grenfell tower fire that left at least 79 people dead. 

Detective Superintendent Fiona McCormack revealed on Friday the devastating blaze began in a Hotpoint fridge freezer but was not started deliberately.

The building's outside cladding and insulation tiles blamed for the inferno's rapid spread has been shown to fail all safety tests, she added. 

Whirlpool Corp, the world's largest maker of home appliances, owns the Hotpoint brand in the Europe and Asia Pacific regions. 

A statement from the company read: 'We are working with the authorities to obtain access to the appliance so that we can assist with the ongoing investigations.

'Words cannot express our sorrow at this terrible tragedy.'

The toll of 79 people dead of missing could rise still, McCormack said, saying she feared there are more to come.

'Given the deaths of so many people we are considering manslaughter as well as criminal offences and breaches of legislation and regulations,' she said.

Just nine of the dead have been identified with another nine still in hospital, three of who are critical. 

At least 250 criminal investigators have been deployed to find out what happened and all charges are being considered from 'manslaughter onwards' McCormack said. 

Police have searched the tower from top to bottom but she said a forensics test might not completed until next year.

'There is a terrible reality that we may not find or identify everyone who died due to the intense heat,' she said, revealing the scale of the devastation. 

'The investigation will be exhaustive,' she added.

'As we learn more, the scope and scale may well grow. We will look at the refurbishment. We are looking at the panelling and the entire facade of the building.'

She went on: 'I do not want there to be any victims of this tragedy that we do not know about.

'Our priority is to understand who was in Grenfell Tower. We are not interested in people's reasons for being in Grenfell Tower.'

The blaze, Britain's worst since World War Two, has heaped pressure on Theresa May, already fighting for her political survival after her party lost its parliamentary majority in a snap election.