Greggs fined £50,000 for breaching Fire Safety Order Regulations

A national chain of bakers has been fined £50,000 after pleading guilty to serious breaches of Fire Safety Order regulations at one of its stores.

Greggs was fined £50,000 and forced to pay £20,326 in costs after London Fire Brigade (LFB) prosecuted the company following an audit of one of its shops in Brentford in 2008.

Fire safety inspectors found a number of contraventions, including blocked corridors and a fire exit that was shut tight with four padlocks. The security door on the other side of the fire exit was also locked.

Councillor Brian Coleman, chairman and leader of London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, highlighted the importance of workplace fire safety, especially during tough economic times.

“Fire safety is a key part of good business management and responsible persons must comply with their legal obligations under the fire safety order, in order that employees and the general public are as safe as possible from the risk of fire,” he said.

“Failure to comply with the law can, as this case has shown, result in a prosecution.”

This week, the LFB welcomed a report by the London Assembly on fire in residential buildings, which called for improved standards during the construction of timber-frame properties because of the greater fire risk they pose.