Restaurant owner fined for flouting fire safety laws

Overview of incident

A Chinese restaurant owner has been ordered to pay more than £4,000 for flouting fire safety laws and putting lives at risk.

A fire involving electrical items, magazines along with a suitcase started in a second floor bedroom above a Chinese restaurant. The incident prompted Hampshire fire safety officers to undertake a fire safety inspection of the premises. The inspection identified that no fire alarm system was installed and no fire risk assessments had been conducted. The restaurant owner was served a prohibition noticed.

The court heard that the standards in the premises fell well below what is required by legislation. The fire was aggravated by the numerous risks including electrical extension cables overloaded and a non maintained extraction system.

Details of fine

The restaurant owner pleaded guilty to multiple breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and was fined £1,200 for each offence. The fire service was awarded full costs of £1,963. The defendant was also requested to pay a £120 community surcharge. The total penalty was £4,483.

Injured Person(s)

N/A

Company Involved

Mr Jia Wu of the Goldren Dragon

Location

Totton, Hampshire, England

Court

West Hampshire Magistrates Court

Quotes

We work closely with businesses to help them with their duty to comply with fire safety law, ensuring the safety of our community and making Hampshire safer, but where their responsibilities are not taken seriously, the Service will always consider prosecution. We would like this case to act as a timely reminder to business owners throughout Hampshire that the Fire Safety Order is in place. The safety of the public is our primary concern. Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service will continue to utilise all the powers available to us in enforcing fire safety legislation.
– Head of Community Safety, Steve Foye