The former licensee of a pub in Teddington has been ordered to pay over £7,000 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to serious breaches of fire safety legislation following a prosecution brought by the London Fire Brigade.
Jackie Lawson was fined, £4,200 for 15 contraventions of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The case was held on Friday 3 April at Richmond upon Thames Magistrates' Court.
The prosecution followed a fire safety inspection at the Kings Arms pub on High Street, Teddington. Inspecting officers visited the premises on 30 May 2007 and found several fire safety failings. At this time, inspectors did not look at the flats above as they were informed that the accommodation was the licensee’s own flat. The inspectors formed the opinion, therefore, that there was no shared accommodation on the first floor. A letter was sent detailing the deficiencies and asking for them to be addressed.
A further inspection was carried out on 23 January 2008 where the upper floors were inspected. It was discovered that rooms were being rented out to tenants and that there were serious fire safety contraventions. As a result a Prohibition Notice was issued preventing use of the first floor rooms for sleeping accommodation.
When inspectors went back two days later they found a significant number of serious fire safety breaches. These included failure to provide a smoke alarm, and a non fire-resistant kitchen door. The emergency routes were inadequate and unsafe. The door to the bar area was also found to be locked meaning the only escape route was through the ground floor kitchen.
Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety Regulation Steve Turek said: “I urge landlords, business owners and employers to take their fire safety responsibilities very seriously. All premises owners and operators must make themselves aware of the regulations, to undertake a fire safety risk assessment, which is now mandatory and act upon its findings. I would like to thank the inspecting officers for their hard work in bringing forward this conviction.”
The premises, formerly known as the Kings Arms, has been under new management since September 2008.
Notes for editors
Costs were £3,000.
