On the 9 December 2016 an anonymous complaint was received regarding the fire safety provisions at Marine Residence (a hotel), at 6-7 Belmont Road, Scarborough. Fire Safety Officers from North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (NYFRS) visited the building and found a number of serious deficiencies, which included:
- No suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment had not been undertaken;
- The existing fire alarm was inappropriate for the type and use of premises and did not sound above the lower ground floor, meaning anyone sleeping in the rooms above ground floor would not have been alerted in the event of fire;
- Numerous fire doors were not fitted with self-closers, strips and seals would allow smoke and fire to enter into the means of escape impeding anyone's evacuation from the building;
- Fire doors on automatic hold open devices were not connected to the fire alarm system and would remain open in the event of a fire;
- There were fire separation issues in storage rooms onto means of escape and they contained ignition sources;
- There was inadequate routine maintenance or testing of the fire alarm, emergency lighting and firefighting equipment; and
- No training of staff including the manager
Prohibition Notice
Owing to the poor safety conditions a Prohibition Notice was issued, which prevented use of upper floors and an enforcement notice for remedial work to be completed were served with a deadline date of 23 January 2017. The remedial work was completed on 30th March 2017
Further investigation by the fire safety officers resulted in charges against the building's owners, Daniel Johns Ltd and the management company, Silver Hopkins ltd.
On 20 February 2018 at Scarborough Magistrates Court, Daniel Johns Ltd and Silver Hopkins Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching sections 3 and 4 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety Order) 2005. Daniel Johns Ltd was fined £23,000.00 plus £2,485 costs and Silver Hopkins Ltd were fined £25,000.00 plus £2,485 costs and £120 victim surcharge.
NYFRS station manager Eddie Head said; "North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service makes visits to a premises when reports of poor fire safety standards are made to us. Depending on what is found appropriate advice will be given to the business, informal action may be taken or in some cases such as this the necessary enforcement action will be implemented."
“In this case following the inspection, prohibition and enforcement notices were served. An investigation was conducted because the fire safety problems were numerous and serious. Neither of the responsible persons had not given sufficient thought to what might happen if a fire had occurred. Conducting or commissioning a fire risk assessment is the starting point for beginning to ensure that a building is or can be made safe for people in the event of a fire.”
"North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service will, in most cases, give responsible persons chance to comply with the legislation before taking legal proceedings. However, where there is risk to life, of death or serious injury in the event of fire, prosecution will be considered and where appropriate taken. In this case immediate action was followed by months of delay to put things right, and the seriousness of the failings meant that a prosecution was appropriate."
“Across the North Yorkshire and the City of York North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service find that many businesses and sole traders are proactive in managing their fire safety well. Sadly there are still too many occasions, like this case, where businesses are unaware or ignoring what they should be doing. As a service we provide free fire safety advice to businesses and the public. We engage with various trade organisation and individual businesses to raise awareness of best practice around fire safety. I would welcome ideas from anyone and especially businesses and sole traders as to how we, as a service, can best reach out and deliver our important fire safety messages. Improving the standards of fire safety and fire safety management will reduce the risk of fire and help to keep individuals and businesses safer.”
Hotels, venues and businesses have an obligation to manage fire safety, as outlined within the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety order).
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