Takeaway fined £5,000 for fire safety breaches
A TAKEAWAY in Derbyshire has been fined thousands of pounds for putting people in potential danger by breaking fire safety regulations.
The kebab, pizza and fast-food outlet was discovered to have beds on the upper floor of the premises without adequate fire safety arrangements in place.
Had a fire broken out, anyone sleeping on the premises would not have had enough warning to get to safety.
Ozgur Cevir, 43, of School House Way, Newbold, is the owner of Bolsover Express, in Market Place, Bolsover and has been fined £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £15,373 and a victim surcharge of £500.
On Tuesday, Cevir was sentenced at Derby Crown Court when he pleaded guilty to four breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
This comes after a Prohibition Notice was served on Cevir in October 2018 to prohibit sleeping at the premises. He was also given an Alterations Notice, requiring him to notify the authorities, should he plan to provide sleeping accommodation in the future.
However, people were still found to be sleeping above the takeaway in January 2019 when firefighters from Bolsover were carried out a routine risk assessment.
This was a contravention of the Prohibition and Alterations Notices, so the Fire and Rescue Authority took the decision to prosecute Mr Cevir.
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service group manager Lee Smith said: “Had a fire occurred in the shop, the inadequate fire safety measures would have meant that the people sleeping upstairs would have had insufficient warning to get out and to safety before a fire, or the smoke, prevented them from doing so.
“The issuing of a prohibition notice restricts the use of any premises providing accommodation that does not meet the accepted standards of fire safety. Responsible persons must accept that they have a duty of care to ensure the accommodation they provide is safe and suitable.”
Premises known to provide sleeping accommodation are regularly inspected for fire safety compliance by Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service. The vast majority of these are well managed, maintained and compliant with current fire safety regulations.
Mr Smith went on to say: “The Fire and Rescue Service will always consider formal action against anyone found to be in breach of Fire Safety regulations and particularly where they fail to comply with any statutory notices issued.”