A council will carry out a review into how it responded to a devastating fire that destroyed four homes.

Dozens of people had to be evacuated following last month's blaze in Sandyford, which was caused by a disposable barbecue.

Local residents and organisations such as Goldenhill Workingmen's Club have been widely praised for helping those affected, both during and after the fire.

But there has been criticism of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, particularly in relation to its communications and how it supported local volunteers.

The city council has now announced that it will carry out a review into how it handled the incident.

Council leader Jane Ashworth told Thursday's full council meeting that the internal audit review would look at 'every aspect' of the authority's response, and any shortcomings will be addressed.

Prior to the meeting, opposition Conservative councillors had proposed a motion calling for a 'full and comprehensive review', but they agreed to withdraw it following Cllr Ashworth's announcement.

Cllr Ashworth said she believed the council's response had been mostly good, in a 'challenging, fast-moving, and unpredictable situation'.

She said: "The city council has led the multi-agency recovery effort in the wake of the fire and continues to provide housing, welfare and financial support. I'm also aware that the council has faced some criticism, and self-criticism, for the effectiveness of our response to the fire.

"I want to make it clear that while I do think we can learn important lessons from reviewing the events of that night, on the whole the council made a good response."

Cllr Ashworth said that the council sent out seven social media posts in the first 24 hours after the fire, and all evacuated families had been placed in temporary accommodation, either by themselves or by the council, by 1am.

She added: "I have asked audit to review every aspect of our response, both during the fire itself and in the recovery phase that followed. We need to identify gaps or moments where we didn't meet our own high standards.

"Members, residents, police and fire will be invited to join in with the review process to make sure it's open, transparent and inclusive. Internal audit will pull all that together and report to the audit committee. Where gaps are found we will act."

Cllr Ashworth also paid tribute to the 'bravery and dedication' of firefighters, some of whom needed hospital treatment, as well as local groups such as the workingmen's club and community centre.

The withdrawn Conservative motion stated that communication from the city council during the incident had been 'insufficient', and that authority 'failed to provide necessary support' to local organisations.

Lorraine Beardmore, leader of the opposition Conservative group, believes it is vital that the review's findings are made public and acted on.

She said: "The city council has a responsibility to keep its residents safe, and when something goes wrong, it needs to provide support.

"We have great community spirit in Stoke-on-Trent, and we saw how the community in Sandyford rallied around following the first. But we need to look at how the council responded and how it supported those groups, and what lessons can be learnt.

"The important thing for me, and the reason why I agreed to withdraw my motion, is that the findings are reported to the audit committee – it can't just be kept as an internal review."