Minster FM reported on the prosecution of Burchan Limited, after NYFRS fire inspectors were asked to visit a takeway shop in Selby. Police officers had ‘raised concerns’ about people living above the shop in rooms, with the inspectors finding two rooms provided for occupancy with a range of fire safety breaches.
These included: that there was ‘no working fire alarm and fire detection’; that the way up to the rooms ‘was via a loft ladder’, at the time of the inspection ‘lifted up despite someone being on the upper floor’; that there was no ‘fire protected escape route’; that there had been no fire risk assessment carried out’; and that ‘in the event of a fire on the ground floor or even on the upper floors, those people living there would not have got any early warning that a fire had started’.
The site pointed out that the residents ‘would not have had a fire protected route to make an escape’ and ‘could very easily have been trapped inside a burning building’. The inspectors served the company with a prohibition notice that informed the responsible person ‘they must not allow anyone to sleep in the building’, with an enforcement notice also served and an investigation begun ‘because the fire safety problems were so serious’.
To add to the breaches, the responsible person ‘had not given any real thought to what might happen to the people living upstairs if a fire had occurred’, as ‘conducting or commissioning a fire risk assessment is the starting point for beginning to ensure that a building is or can be made safe for people in the event of a fire’.
NYFRS ‘in most cases’ gives responsible persons a ‘chance to comply’ with the law before starting legal proceedings, but in cases such as these ‘where there is risk to life of death or serious injury’ prosecution is considered, with this particular case seeing the responsible person ‘fully’ cooperate and act ‘quickly to put things right’.
A spokesperson for the company attended York Magistrates Court on behalf of Burchan Limited, where they pleaded guilty to four breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The company was fined £4,600 and ordered to pay £2,051 in costs with a surcharge of £170, for a total fine of £6,821.
David Watson, station manager for NYFRS, commented: ‘North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service will always make a visit to a premises when reports of poor fire safety standards are made to us. Depending on what is found appropriate advice will be given to the business, informal action may be taken or in some cases such as this the necessary enforcement action will be implemented.’