Thousands of homes across Waltham Forest and Redbridge are 'at risk' of having fires, London Fire Brigade (LFB) has said.

A new fire safety law passed on October 1 requires all private landlords to install smoke and carbon monoxide alarms on each floor of rented properties.

Failure to do so and they could be hit with a £5,000 fine.

In a bid to save around 230 lives and reduce injuries by 5, 860 over the next decade, the Brigade has been giving out landlords in 'at risk' areas, government-funded free alarms.

Areas identified as having a greater risk of fires are considered 'at risk', and in the postcode area's of E4, E10, E17, and E11, LFB have said there are 20,000.

In Redbridge, 11,000 homes fall into the 'at risk' category.

LFB assistant commissioner for fire safety, Neil Orbell, said: "The new laws on smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are designed to protect tenants in private rental properties which often include some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

"We are deliberately targeting landlords who rent properties in areas of London that we have identified as being at greater risk of having fires and we have invested a lot of time trying to reach them.

"We are continuing to review what more we can do to make sure the alarms get to as many of these landlords as possible so that we can help them protect those who are most at risk from fire in our city."

The new legislation also requires landlords to check that all alarms are working before the start of each tenancy, but it does not apply to social landlords and Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) as they are both covered by existing laws.