The former owner of a restaurant in the West London borough of Hounslow has lost an appeal against a £10,000 fine he was issued for breaching fire safety regulations in 2010.
Darshan Grewal, who owned the Karahi Palace restaurant until recently, appealed against a ruling that he and his partner had not complied with fire safety rules. His former restaurant was inspected back in March 2010, and a number of problems were found.
The main issue, apart from an apparent lack of fire safety awareness training, was that fire exit routes were blocked by furniture and were not easily accessible. There was also oil on the floor and flammable materials being kept near a stairwell. The restaurant had the capacity to seat 300 people, all of whom would have been at risk if a fire had broken out.
For breaching the rules and putting people in danger, Mr Grewal was ordered to pay a fine of £10,800. He since appealed the decision, having to pay £1,020 in court costs to bring his case to court. The appeal has now been rejected and the former owner of the Karahi Palace will now have to pay the original fine plus another set of court costs.