Hotel fined after fire safety offences

A hotel in Golders Green has been fined £20,000 for fire safety offences, including the absence of  smoke alarms and emergency lighting.

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

LFB fire safety inspectors visited the 24 room hotel following a small fire in its 13 bedroom annexe on 16 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.

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.”

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