Punch Taverns fined £17K for fire safety breaches

Punch Taverns has been ordered to pay £17,000 in fines and costs after admitting serious breaches of fire safety legislation.

In a case bought by the London Fire Brigade (LFB) at Westminster Magistrates' Court today Punch admitted two contraventions of fire safety regulations.

It stems from a fire inspection at managed house the Barley Mow on Duke Street, in London's West End five years ago.

Officers raised concerns that there was a serious risk to residents on the fourth floor of the building because of the distance between them and the fire exit and a lack of adequate fire protection.

The same risk to the fourth floor use had been identified by a fire risk assessment commissioned in 2003 but the LFB said Punch had taken no action.

A notice was then served by the LFB that restricted the fourth floor rooms to be used for storage purposes only.

But in a return visit to in October 2007 the fire service found that a room on the fourth floor was being used as living quarters.

The escape route from the fourth floor was also partially blocked by combustible items on the third floor.

Assistant Commissioner for fire safety regulation Steve Turek said: "It is important all premises owners and operators have a fire risk assessment and even more importantly act upon its findings in a timely manner.

"The prohibition notice in this case was served to ensure the safety of people using the premises. Notices must be taken very seriously and followed explicitly."

A Punch Taverns spokesman said: "We take the safety of our employees and guests extremely seriously and would like to stress that this was an isolated incident that took place two years ago.

"Since then, we have made huge strides forward in our approach to health and safety. Through our Operational Excellence programme and the launch of the Be Safe, Be Legal, Be Compliant guideline we have strengthened our internal processes resulting in a dramatic decrease in the number of enforcement notices."