Licensee fined £30,000 for 'firetrap' pub

At a sentencing hearing, Koyser Khan of Buckinghamshire admitted ten offences under the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order.

Fire safety inspecting officers first visited the Archers in 2010, where they discovered ‘inadequate’ smoke detection systems, insufficient fire extinguishers, missing fire doors and inadequate means of escape in the event of a fire.

An enforcement notice was issued ordering the work to be completed and although fire safety work was eventually carried out, a follow up visit revealed the alarm system had been removed.

Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety Neil Orbell said: “This public house was a potential fire trap and I have no doubt that if a blaze had broken out inside, its occupants would have been at serious risk of losing their lives.

"Those responsible for buildings have a clear legal responsibility to ensure the people living and working there are safe from fire.

"Sadly it's clear to me that in this case, not only were those responsibilities being flouted before we  visited the premises, the pub's licensee continued to ignore them even after we had carried out our safety inspection.

"This is completely unacceptable and landlords, managers and building owners should be warned that we will always prosecute if we find they are putting people's lives at risk."

A Dorset licensee recently urged fellow publicans to review their insurance policies after his pub burnt down and it was revealed he was underinsured for the cost of the rebuild.