Grief is turning to outrage in the wake of London’s deadly Grenfell Tower apartment block fire, with British Prime Minister Theresa May confronted by protesters and a crowd of angry locals storming the local town hall.

Tensions were high days after the overnight fire gutted the huge housing block.

“Sadly at this time, there are 58 people who we have been told were in Grenfell Tower on the night that are missing and therefore sadly I have to assume that they are dead,” Police Commander Stuart Cundy told reporters on Saturday, adding that the figure would likely rise.

Ms May, who was criticised a day earlier for not meeting with locals and survivors, visited the area again on Friday to meet with some locals inside a church.

But the Conservative leader still struggled to overcome accusations that she lacked compassion because she had failed to meet with victims on her first visit to the devastated site.

Police surrounded Ms May as she left the church, where a crowd of angry protesters had gathered, shouting “shame on you!” and “coward!”

Did cheap cladding panels fuel the fire?

Firefighters using drones and sniffer dogs continued to search the burned-out housing block, that looms over the low-income community in west London on Friday.

The fire, which started just before 1:00am on Wednesday, surprised many as they slept and the speed with which it spread shocked fire experts.

Britain’s Press Association reported that some 70 people are still missing after the fire.

Metropolitan Police commander Stuart Cundy responded to fears that the number of dead could exceed 100 by saying: “I really hope it isn’t”.

Engineering experts say outside insulation panels installed on the 24-story Grenfell Tower may have helped the fire spread rapidly from one floor to the next.

The Guardian newspaper reported that contractors installed a cheaper, less flame-resistant type of panelling in the renovation that ended in May 2016.

Crowd storms town hall

Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall became another flashpoint on Friday with protesters storming the building, accusing authorities of ignoring them and of forcing low-income families to live in sub-standard housing.

Scuffles broke out near the building, with demonstrators chanting “we want justice!” as they surged toward the doors.

Police hold back crowds outside St Clement’s Church in West London. Photo: AAP/David Mirzoeff

London has a chronic housing shortage even in the best of times, and those left homeless by the fire — already angry over what they see as government inequity and incompetence — fear being forced out of the British capital.

The Grenfell Tower housed about 600 people in 120 apartments.

Millions offered to support victims

After meeting with Grenfell survivors on Friday, Ms May announced a 5 million pound (AUS$8 million) fund to help them and expressed sorrow for their plight.

The package includes a guarantee to rehouse people as close as possible to where they previously lived — a poor neighbourhood surrounded by extreme wealth.

“[This aims] to give the victims the immediate support they need to care for themselves and for loved ones,” Ms May said.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said people were frustrated by the lack of information about the missing and the dead as well as a lack of coordination between support services.

“The scale of this tragedy is clearly proving too much for the local authority to cope with on their own,” Mr Khan said in an open letter to Ms May.

—with agencies