2 Mar 2010

The premise safety failings included no fire extinguishers, no emergency signage and no fire risk assessment
A former pub landlord has been ordered to pay £16,015 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to serious breaches of fire safety legislation following a prosecution brought by the London Fire Brigade.

Mr Bhupinder Singh Mann admitted guilt on 16 contraventions of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Sentencing occurred on Friday, 26 February 2010, at Isleworth Crown Court.

The Star Public House on Uxbridge Road, Hillingdon, UB10 0LY was inspected by fire officers on 29 August, 2008. The officers found a number of fire safety failings including no fire extinguishers, no emergency signage and no fire risk assessment. The officers explained their concerns and asked for the faults to be rectified.

Fire officers made further visits to the premises discovering that the majority of the problems still existed and issued an enforcement notice detailing the issues and when they needed to be completed by. When officers visited the premises again conditions had not improved but had deteriorated, and the Brigade served a prohibition notice prohibiting the use of the upper floors of the premises being used by staff or guests because the risk to people from fire was so serious.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order places a duty on a defined 'responsible person' for the premise's fire safety
A subsequent visit confirmed that the upper floors property was still being used as accommodation and following a further inspection on 22 May, 2009 Punch Taverns, the owner of the premises took action at the recommendation of the fire officers on site and physically barred access to the upper floors.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order places a duty on a defined 'responsible person' for the premises (the person who controls the premises, e.g. a landlord/manager/owner) to carry out a fire risk assessment, take appropriate measures to minimise the risk of fire and implement general fire precautions to protect people in the premises if a fire occurs. The assessment and the fire precautions must be kept under review by the ‘responsible person'.

London Fire Brigade's Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety Regulation, Steve Turek, said: "Ensuring you know about fire safety law is not an option - if you are the person responsible for a premises it is a necessity. If people do not adhere to the legislation, then as shown in this case, we can prosecute."