High Peak Borough Council's Building Control had not undertaken a final inspection or issued certificates confirming the apartments were fit for occupation at the time of the fire on April 6 2007.

The Council's report said on March 13 2007, during an inspection by Building Control and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service developers had revealed one apartment on the fourth floor of the building was being occupied.

"The developers had not informed Building Control prior to occupation of the apartment that occupation was about to commence, in contravention of their statutory duties," said the report.

During the inspection, outstanding fire safety issues were identified. "Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the outstanding issues to the developer in writing and a request was made to the developer that Building Control be informed when they had been addressed so that a final inspection could take place to confirm the building was suitable for occupation, in accordance with statutory requirements.

"No confirmation was received prior to the incident. No final inspection took place and no Completion Certificates were issued to confirm the building was suitable for occupation.

On the day of the fire, 41 apartments were occupied, although this was not brought to the attention of Building Control," added the report.

Building Control had undertaken various inspections and issued conditional completion certificates for 42 of the 72 apartments in September 2006 identifying issues to be addressed but these were not an indication they believed the apartments were fit for occupation, stated the report.

The fire destroyed the roof and the fourth floor of the building and caused extensive damage to the third floor and structure of the building.

Although the fire was started deliberately High Peak Borough Council undertook a review into their role to see if any lessons could be learnt.

It has now improved communication between Council Tax and Building Control departments in order that Building Control are aware as soon as occupation of a building takes place; improved record keeping and introduced a computerised system to provide easier identification of the fire strategy and no longer issues conditional completion certificates.

n Fire safety issues raised by residents of the Mill have also been addressed in the report.

It revealed fire exits were in compliance with Fire Regulations. Emergency lighting was installed and seen to be working by Building Control on the day of the fire and signage was in compliance with Building Regulations.

Fire alarms certified to British Standards were installed in all apartments, with approval in place to confirm they had been fitted properly. A sprinkler system certified to British Standards was properly installed. High Peak Borough Council is not aware that it had been switched off in whole or in part.

n Derbyshire Police arrested and charged a man with offences of attempted murder, arson with intent to endanger life and arson with intent to commit criminal damage.