The head of the London Fire Brigade has quit after Grenfell survivors called on the Mayor to sack her.

Dany Cotton has today said she will leave the brigade at the end of the year – she had previously planned to retire next April.

But Sadiq Khan met with Grenfell survivors and families last month, when they asked for Ms Cotton to go.

The London fire chief was criticised during the first phase of the Grenfell inquiry for claiming she would have done nothing differently.

Ms Cotton told the investigation last September that she “wouldn’t change anything we did on the night”.

She said officers could not have known the fire would spread through the building’s cladding, comparing the unpredictable blaze to “a space shuttle landing on the shard”.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

Grenfell Tower fire claimed the lives of 72 residents (Photo: Natalie Oxford/PA Wire).

The devastating North Kensington fire on 14 June 2017 claimed the lives of 72 people.

Residents were initially told to remain in the building, which is normal practice for tower block fires.

But experts said more lives could have been saved if residents had been told to evacuate the building earlier.

Grenfell inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said evacuation should have been ordered between 1.30am and 1.50am, and blamed brigade chiefs for keeping “stay put” advice in place until 2.47am.

Ms Cotton said last month that the fire brigade’s response would now be “very different”.

She told the London Assembly that more fire fighters would be deployed immediately – but did not say if residents would be told to evacuate.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

Grenfell survivors told the Mayor last month that Dany Cotton should go (Photo: Julia Gregory).

The London Fire Commissioner will now leave her post on 31 December, after 32 years service with the brigade.

The city’s first female fire chief said she felt “proud to have stood shoulder to shoulder” with excellent colleagues.

Ms Cotton said Grenfell fire was “without doubt the worst fire we had ever experienced”.

She added: “The Brigade has and will keep making the changes it can make and continue its fight for all of the other changes that are needed, to prevent such a terrible incident and loss of life from happening again.”

The Mayor of London thanked Ms Cotton for her service.

He said: “I believe this decision is the right one.

“I will be appointing a new Fire Commissioner shortly and it’s right that they can quickly take on the responsibility to drive forward the changes being made within the Brigade, and to deliver on the recommendations made in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry report.”

Fire survivors group Grenfell United said the change in leadership of the Brigade was “needed to keep Londoners safe”.

In a statement, the group said: “Sir Martin Moore-Bick raised serious concerns that the London Fire brigade was an institution at risk of not learning the lessons of Grenfell.

“The Phase One report has important recommendations for the brigade. The incoming commissioner must move swiftly to implement those recommendations and be determined in their efforts to ensure the lessons of Grenfell are learnt.”