A hotel manager has been given a four-month prison term, suspended for 18 months, as well as a record fine by the London Fire Brigade after he was found to have flouted fire-safety legislation.Salim Patel, who is no longer owner of the Radnor Hotel in Bayswater, London, was fined more than £200,000 after fire inspectors uncovered many and serious fire safety breaches.
Investigators found missing fire doors, inadequate emergency lighting and no fire-risk assessment documentation during a routine inspection in 2011. A follow-up inspection also revealed an absence of a functioning fire detection system, while the the basement storeroom had also been converted to a bedroom.
Patel ignored instructions make his hotel safer and was subsequently taken to court by the LFB.
As well as being ordered to pay the record £200,000 fine, the hotelier was ordered to pay £29,922 court costs.
“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,” said LFB head of fire safety regulation Neil Orbell.
“The size of the fine should also serve as a stark reminder that the courts take fire safety just as seriously as we do.”
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