A brewery has been ordered to pay £27,481 in fines and costs after breaching fire safety legislation following a prosecution by the London Fire Brigade.
Punch Taverns PLC pleaded guilty to seven contraventions of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order SI 2005/1541.
The Milestone Public House on Mile End Road was inspected by fire officers who found a number of fire safety failings including inadequate maintenance of the fire alarm and poor emergency lighting. In some cases, emergency lighting was non-existent. Further, the building was a house of multiple occupation and a kitchen and bedroom door had not been installed with self closers.
Although an enforcement notice was issued with requisite time to comply, officers duly returned to find a number of faults had still to be addressed. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order SI 2005/1541 places a duty on the ‘responsible person' for the premises, namely the owner, landlord or employer, to carry out a fire risk assessment, take appropriate measures to minimise the risk of fire and implement general fire precautions to protect people on the premises in the event of a fire. The responsible person must keep the assessment and fire precautions under review.
Steve Turek, Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety Regulation, said, "London Fire Brigade will continue to take action when businesses, large or small, do not take their fire safety responsibilities seriously. Failure to comply with the law can, as this case has shown, result in prosecution."
However, a Punch Tavern spokesman responded, "Punch Taverns has an excellent safety record across its estate and remains committed to ensuring that all of our pub businesses are safe and fully compliant. Punch Taverns were only fined a total of £8,500 for these offences which arose in 2008 and the judge commented on Punch's excellent safety record and highlighted that the company's current compliance systems are ‘impressive'."
