London hotel record £200k fine for fire safety breaches
The former owner of a Bayswater hotel has been hit with London’s biggest ever fine for an individual for violating fire safety rules.
London Fire Brigade said guests’ lives were put in jeopardy due to the shoddy conditions, which were discovered inside The Radnor Hotel during a routine inspection.
It brought charges against then-owner Salim Patel, who was fined £200,000 after a successful prosecution.
In addition to the six-figure fine, Mr Patel was ordered to pay nearly £30,000 in court costs after pleading guilty to seven offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
He was also handed a four-month prison sentence and suspended for 18 months, the London Fire Brigade said.
Fire safety officers were stunned when they toured the six-floor, 18-room hotel, on Inverness Terrace, to carry out a routine inspection. They discovered numerous fire safety breaches, including inadequate fire detection systems, blocked emergency exits and inadequate emergency lighting. Fire doors were missing or tied open with extension cords or string, there was evidence the basement store room was used for sleeping, and the owner had not conducted a fire risk assessment.
Mr Patel was given an enforcement notice, which required him to address the safety concerns to make the hotel safer for guests, but follow-up visits found that no action had been taken, the London Fire Brigade said.
The hotel continued to operate without a working fire detection system, so court proceedings were launched against the hotelier.
When Mr Patel was sentenced Judge Kennedy said the public expected ‘absolute attention’ to fire safety when occupying sleeping accommodation.
Head of fire safety regulation, said he hopes the penalty serves as a deterrent for other hoteliers.
He said:
‘Our fire safety officers carry out around 16,000 inspections every year to help ensure the capital’s buildings are safe from fire. This is the biggest fine we have ever secured against an individual for breaking fire safety laws and it should send a message to all business owners that if they are shirking their fire safety responsibilities and putting the public at risk we won’t hesitate to prosecute. The size of the fine should also serve as a stark reminder that the court’s take fire safety just as seriously as we do.’
A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said Mr Patel no longer runs the hotel and it is under new ownership.
Please note: commercial buildings, non-domestic and multi-occupancy premises in England and Wales are already forced to undertake a ‘suitable and sufficient’ fire risk assessment carried out under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
While the overwhelming majority of premises do this, if the assessment is carried out to an insufficient extent, the responsible person can face an unlimited fine or up to two years in prison.
