Date

Details

Fine

Costs?

Total

2008

A Bar in Lancashire,.

The prosecution began after fears of serious overcrowding were reported to the bar’s owner. However, his unhelpful approach in trying to improve the fire safety issues led to further action being taken. A full fire safety inspection was completed, which highlighted the serious fire safety breaches and provided the way to a prosecution case against the owner.

In court, the owner pleaded guilty to the following five offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005:

 Failing to make a suitable fire risk assessment.

 Not providing suitable and sufficient staff training.

 Not providing adequate means of escape by not keeping them clear at all times.

 Not providing adequate means of escape by blocking the exit routes.

 Failing to record and provide tests of the fire alarm system.

The magistrates found the owner guilty of all five offences and he was order to pay £1,200 per offence and pay Fire Authority £2,000. This resulted in the owner having to pay a total of £8,000 within six months.

£6000

£2000

£8000

2007

An East London Nightclub have been ordered to pay fines and costs totalling almost £41,000 after pleading guilty to breaches of fire safety regulations

The company were fined for 12 breaches, including fire doors wedged open, no clear escape route and an exit staircase obstructed by rubbish.

The court heard that the nightclub and offices had been investigated after the Brigade had been called to a fire alarm sounding at the premises. A subsequent inspection discovered the contraventions.

£41,000

2007

A restaurant in east London was fined £20,000 (the maximum £5,000 for each of four contraventions), including no fire alarm, no smoke alarm and non fire-resistant doors and windows. Costs of over £7,000 were also awarded against the Defendant.

The court heard that the restaurant continued to trade whilst no effort had been made to comply with earlier enforcement notices. Magistrates considered the contraventions to be very serious and that by ignoring the notices they had put both their employees and customers at risk.
 

£20,000

£7,000

£27,000

2007

Owners of a cramped warehouse in Lancashire have been fined £12,000 plus £2,250 costs after admitting six separate breaches of fire safety laws.

Fire inspectors said the safety measures in place were the worst they had ever seen, with no working fire alarm and piles of flammable boxes blocking escape routes. There was no emergency lighting in case the dimly-lit warehouse had caught fire and no risk assessment had been carried out. The court was shown photographs of fire exits sealed off and cardboard boxes of clothing piled

dangerously high restricting access to escape routes.

£12,500

£2,250

£14,750

2007

Restaurateur in Essex fined £10,000 under new fire regulations

The prosecution of the restaurateur, resulted in a fine of £10,000 and costs of £15,000,for a range of offences

£10,000

£15,000

£25,000

2007

A clothes shop in east London, has been fined over £9,200 with a further £6000 costs for nine breaches of the fire safety legislation, including a rear exit door being locked shut, no lighting on a staircase and faults to the fire alarm system.

The court heard that the contraventions had taken place over a period of time and that there had been unreasonable delays in complying. The Judge believed the contraventions were serious but took into consideration the Defendants mitigating circumstances, including employing a fire safety consultant.

 

£9,000+

£6,000

£15,000+

An Essex restaurateur was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £15,000 in a prosecution for five breaches of a prohibition notice served on him in relation to his business premises.

The prosecution was brought after it was discovered circumstances that presented imminent risk to life in the event of fire breaking out on the premises. A Prohibition Notice was served but subsequent follow-up inspections revealed the Notice was being breached and the defendant showed disregard for the Notice’s terms and the safety of his employees and members of the public.

£10,000

£15,000

£25,000

A restaurant in Hampshire has been fined £33,000 plus undisclosed costs following serious contraventions of fire safety legislation identified during a routine inspection.

The prosecution was brought about after an inspection revealed that an enforcement notice, issued as the result of an earlier inspection, had not been complied with. Although the Fire and Rescue Service had twice extended the deadline for the restaurant to comply with this notice, a further nine breaches of the Regulations were identified at the time of inspection - including unsatisfactory means of escape

£33,000

?

£33,000+

2007

The owners of a nursing home in north London were fined a huge £200,000 plus costs of £30,366.28 for contraventions of fire safety regulations following a fire.

When fire crews arrived at the incident they found smoke coming from the first floor windows of the three storey building. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus discovered the fire in the basement and managed to stop it from spreading to other floors, but heavy smoke had spread throughout the entire property.

During the hearing the court were presented with statements from firefighters who attended the incident describing their actions and the difficulties they faced in evacuating people due to locked doors and smoke logged hallways. Fifty six people including twelve members of staff had been in the premises when the fire started.

The Defendants had pleaded guilty to 13 Summonses. However, the Judge was of the opinion that the first two offences that: (1) The risk assessment was not suitable or sufficient, and that (2) Appropriate procedures to be followed in the event of serious imminent danger to persons at work were not established, adequately demonstrated the seriousness of the offences and effectively comprised within them all the elements of the other 11 offences.

Nine people were rescued by fire crews following the smoke logging of the building caused by fire safety contraventions. Although there were no serious injuries 14 residents were taken to hospital for check-ups. A suitable and sufficient Fire Risk Assessment and Emergency Plan might not have prevented the fire but as the Judge agreed it would have reduced the effects of the fire causing less risk to both the occupants and the fire crews.

The thirteen offences were

1.The risk assessment was not suitable or sufficient;
2.Appropriate procedures to be followed in the event of serious imminent danger to persons at work at the Nursing Home were not established;
3.The door to room 212 was locked with the resident inside;
4.The rear and final fire exit (the full height iron gates) from the basement was secured with a combination padlock;
5.The fire extinguisher found on the second floor did not have a pin or security tag and the test label was damaged;
6.The fire extinguisher found outside room 202 on the first floor was tested on 15 October 2003 and did not have security tag;
7.By virtue of the fact that the basement double doors had been wedged open prior to the fire, large volumes of smoke entered the basement corridor compromising escape from all parts of the basement;
8.The fire door leading to the laundry in the basement did not have a self closing device;
9.The smoke damper at the base of the laundry chute doors in the basement was defective and wedged open;
10.The corridor in the basement was being used for storage and thereby restricted the width of the escape route from the basement.
11.The final exit door from the kitchen was not maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair in that the bots securing the door were difficult to open;
12.The door leading to the kitchen was locked with a digital lock;
13.The only exit from the garden was via a gate that was locked.

 

£200,000

£30,366

£230,366

2007

A major department store in Berkshire were fined a total of £30 000.00, plus costs of £2765.00.

Five of the offences, related to contraventions found at the premises following a serious fire . A further offence was found during a fire safety inspection following a subsequent fire at the same premises approximately one year later.

The offences relate to the company’s failure to ensure that the premises were adequately provided with the appropriate fire safety measure;

 The premises contained some emergency lighting luminaries that were not functioning,

 A fire exit door was fitted with a door lock that required a code in order to open the door.

 A second fire exit door was fitted with a door lock that required a code in order to open the door

 The premises were not provided with an appropriate fire alarm system,

 A final fire exit door was bolted shut by way of three sliding bolts fitted to the door.

 The fire alarm system was not being maintained.

The company was fined £5000.00 for each offence, a total of £30 000.00, costs were awarded in the authorities favour of £2765.00.

£30,000

£2765

£32,765

A hotel in Lancashire, the managing director was fined £18000 and ordered to pay costs of £1750 after a serious fire in which eight people, including a small baby and its mother were rescued from the building.

The company responsible for the hotel admitted responsibility for a number of offences in court. These included:

Not completing a fire risk assessment

Failure to maintain clear emergency exits

Failure to maintain alarm and detection systems

Failure to protect means of escape

Not training the staff in fire safety

£18,000

£1,750

£19,750

2006

A major supermarket and department store group were fined a massive £250,000 with £11,000 costs following a prosecution in Sussex.

As the result of finding significant problems in one store, a county wide audit of all stores owned by the company commenced. Serious fire safety deficiencies were recorded in 38 of the 41 stores. A group prosecution began and twenty summonses were served against the company by the local Magistrates Court as a result of serious fire safety offences in a total of six different stores.

The offences included obstructing and locking fire exits, failure to complete fire risk assessments, having no fire alarm systems, having no emergency lighting and leaving fire doors wedged open.

£250,000

£11,000

£261,000

2005

A west London furniture retailer has been ordered to pay £17,650.75 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to breaches of fire safety legislation.

A Magistrates' Court fined the company, £9,000 for six breaches of fire safety legislation after they admitted they had seriously compromised the safety of employees. In two separate inspections officers had found exit doors to the car park padlocked shut with iron bars and the final exit from the bed showroom obstructed by a double bed.

The Defendant accepted that they had contravened their duties and improvements should have been made sooner.

?

?

£17,650

2005

A glazier company in north west London has been ordered to pay £23,000 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to breaches of fire safety legislation.

The Magistrates' Court fined the Company, £13,000 for nineteen breaches of fire safety legislation after they admitted they had seriously compromised the safety of employees.

An inspection of the premises was carried out and a number of contraventions of the regulations were found. This included no working fire alarm, fire-fighting equipment and extinguishers were either out of date or inaccessible and staff training on fire safety was inadequate and unrecorded.

Further to this there was numerous breaches relating to insufficient fire exits and in some cases fire exits being padlocked shut or obstructed

£13,000

£10,000

£23,000

2003

A central London Hotel have been fined a total of £11,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 costs following "serious" breaches of fire safety regulations.

The court heard that, when called to a fire at the hotel the Brigade found:

Smoke had spread to corridors on all floors because a new lift shaft was not separated from any of the floors
The fire alarm system was not working
Four of the fire doors had been wedged open
Two fire exit doors to the basement were locked shut.

£11,000

£3,000

£14,000

2003

The occupier of a hotel in central London has been ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £7,000 after pleading guilty to a series of fire safety breaches.

When Fire Safety Officers visited the hotel they found that building work was in progress and that builder’s rubble material stored in the basement lightwell made it awkward for people to exit from the basement. In addition there were doors wedged open, a lot of the smoke detection was non-functioning and emergency lighting failed in certain sections of the hotel. The hotel remained open during these refurbishment works.

The Company pleaded guilty to five summonses, including the charge that building work was carried out at a time and in a manner which obstructed the means of escape from the premises.

?

?

£7,000

2002

A major clothes retailer in London’s west end has been fined £21,000 after pleading guilty to seven fire safety offences.

A District Judge fined the Company £21,000 plus £3,806 costs. The offences, which were discovered by Brigade fire safety officers during unannounced inspections of the premises, included obstructing the means of escape with clothing racks, wedging open fire doors, storing cardboard boxes and bags of rubbish in the emergency escape routes and obstructing a fire shutter.

£21,000

£3,806

£24,806

2002

A London self storage warehouse company have been fined £5,800 after pleading guilty to three fire safety offences.

Magistrates fined the owners of the building £5,800 and ordered them to pay £3624 costs for offences. Following a visit to the premises, an Enforcement Notice was issued requiring the production of a Fire Risk Assessment, the repair of the fire alarm, inspection of the fire extinguishers and installation of automatic fire detection in the vicinity of the restroom. At the time of the inspection, the owners of the building were advised how to complete the required Fire Risk Assessment.

Despite several visits by fire safety officers during the following 18 months, the company failed to produce the Risk Assessment or repair the fire alarm.

£5,800

£3,624

£9,424

2001

An interconnected carpet shop and a furnishings superstore in south London have been ordered to pay over £16,000 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to a number of fire safety offences discovered in their inter-connecting stores.

A Magistrates Court this week fined one of the companies £7,500 for five breaches of fire safety legislation. The offences included obstructing doors leading to the signed fire exit, locking the final emergency exit and obstructing a number of fire escape routes. The second company, which leases part of the ground and mezzanine floors, was fined £4,500 for three breaches of Regulations which included locking a door which formed part of the emergency exit route and obstructing two fire escape routes. The offences were discovered following an unannounced inspection of the premises by Brigade fire safety officers earlier this year

£12,000

£4,000

£16,000

2001

A major supermarket chain has been fined £7,000 after admitting two charges of locking fire exits at their south London store. Magistrates were told that the offences could have led to loss of life had fire broken out at the store.

Costs of £1,500 were also awarded against the company.

Magistrates were told that the offences came to light when fire crews attended after a fire alarm went off . Although there was no fire, the firefighters carried out an inspection and found breaches of fire safety legislation. The court heard that the existence of the two locked fire exits posed a serious risk to the safety of customers and employees

£7,000

£1,500

£8,500

2001

The owner of a guest house in central London has been ordered to pay £20,000 in fines and costs by a District Judge for breaching fire safety legislation and continuing to operate them despite a prohibition notice.

The owner and legal representative, were both described by District Judge as behaving "deviously" in their dealings with the fire authority and Brigade officers.

 

?

?

£20,000

A supermarket chain has been ordered to pay fines and costs of nearly £24,000 after being found guilty of a series of fire safety breaches at its store in East London.

The company had pleaded not guilty at Magistrates Court to 14 offences. The trial, over four days ended when magistrates returned their guilty verdict on 11 summonses. They were fined a total of £13,000 and ordered to pay costs of nearly £10,700.

£13,000

£10,700

£23,750

2000

The owner of a factory in East London, has been ordered to pay fines and costs of over £31,000 after being found guilty of ten breaches of the fire safety offences discovered by Fire Brigade officers.

The Company was fined £2,500 for each charge plus £6,060 in costs. The three-storey building with a small basement storage area is occupied by several clothing/textile manufacturers and a double glazing company.

The offences arose during two Brigade inspections of the factory when a number of breaches were found. These included obstructed and insufficiently lit escape routes, a final exit door which was padlocked shut, fire doors which didn’t effectively self-close, a fire alarm system not properly maintained and lack of fire resistant partitions.
 

£25,000

£6,060

£31,060

2000

A major department store in south east London has been fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £6,325 costs after pleading guilty to serious breaches of fire safety laws at their store. 

The court was told that during a fire safety inspection, a Brigade inspecting officer found serious contraventions, including exits blocked with washing machines and other large electrical goods. The store was told to clear the problem.
He returned the next day to find not only were they still there but the situation was worse. A fire exit door in the basement was now blocked and the final exit door on the ground floor was found to be padlocked shut.

The Company admitted charges of blocking a fire exit door and wedging open a ground floor fire door and asked for four similar offences to be taken into consideration.

 

£10,000

£6,325

£16,325

2000

A major shoe retailer have been ordered to pay £10,049 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to six breaches of fire safety laws relating to their shop in east London.

Magistrates fined the company £7,500 plus £2,549.75 costs for contraventions of the fire safety legislation which included blocking a fire escape route with transit cases full of shoes, and propping open and obstructing fire doors. The contraventions were identified by London Fire Brigade fire safety officers following a surprise inspection of the premises.
 

£7,500

£2,549

£10,049