Hotel fined for Fire Safety Failures

The Central Hotel (in Golders Green, London) has been fined £20,000 for a range of fire safety offences, including the lack of a fire risk assessment, and the absence of smoke alarms and emergency lighting.

The Hoop Lane Trust (owners of the Central Hotel) was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court after pleading guilty to five offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The London Fire Brigade (LFB) was also awarded costs of £15,000.

When fire inspectors from London Fire Brigade visited the 24 room hotel following a small fire in its 13 bedroom annexe in June 2013, they discovered a number of fire safety issues, including:

• no evidence of fire risk assessment
• no smoke alarms or smoke detectors
• inadequate fire doors
• no emergency lighting
• no evacuation procedures in place

An Enforcement Notice was issued by the Brigade in July 2013 but subsequent visits found that the work required to address the fire safety failures had not been completed.  The hotel was fined £20,000 (and ordered to pay LFB prosecution costs of £15,000), with the £20,000 fine broken down as follows: £12,000 for no fire risk assessment; £2,000 for no smoke alarms or smoke detectors; £2,000 for inadequate fire doors; £2,000 for no emergency lighting; and £2,000 for no evacuation procedure being in place.

Speaking after the prosecution, LFB’s Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety Dan Daly said:

Although the fire at the hotel was relatively small, the safety failures our inspectors uncovered could have easily led to a much more serious incident.

The Trust had a responsibility to protect those working at and visiting their premises from fire but by ignoring those responsibilities, they potentially put people’s lives at serious risk.

While we are keen to work with building owners to help them meet their safety responsibilities we won’t hesitate to prosecute if we find they are persistently breaking fire safety laws.

Hotel fined for Fire Safety Failures – don’t let it happen at your premises.