The owner of a takeaway restaurant in the Somerset town of Portishead has been prosecuted and fined after admitting violating fire safety rules and potentially endangering lives.
The Kashmir Indian Tandoori Takeaway was visited by the Avon Fire and Rescue Service (AF&RS) following a recommendation by the local council’s food safety team, who suspected that the business might be breaching fire safety laws.
The fire service found that owner Abdul Wahid had not carried out a fire safety risk assessment and implemented its findings, which may have included fire safety training for staff. After repeated failed attempts to contact Mr Wahid to ensure the risk assessment had been carried out, AF&RS made the decision to take the case to the North Somerset Courthouse.
Eventually, Mr Wahid was fined £400 and ordered to pay £2,683 in court costs after he pleaded guilty to two breaches of Article 27 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order.
Commenting on the case, the technical fire safety head for AF&RS, Matt Peskett, said:
“Following the outcome of this case Mr Wahid has been identified as the person responsible for fire safety measures on the premises and we will now be considering our next move in terms of investigating if any fire safety breaches have occurred.
“I would like to remind all business owners and managers that they need to take their fire safety risk assessments seriously and ensure they have taken steps to make sure that the people working, living or using their premises are safe.”
