A hotel company and its manager have been ordered to pay out more than £40,000 after guests and staff took up to 20 minutes to evacuate the building when a fire broke out.

The owner and the general manager of Park Hotel in Leicester both pleaded guilty to ten breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order at Leicester Magistrates Court on 21 May.

The case followed a fire on the first floor of the hotel on 13 August last year, when it was discovered that the fire alarm could not be heard in a basement area of the premises where staff lived. This led to a delay of around 20 minutes in evacuating the hotel, the court heard. The blaze was found to have started in a guest's room, but firefighters found smoke logging throughout the premises.

In a follow-up visit on 27 August, fire safety inspectors found there was no sounder for the fire alarm in the basement, and most of the fire doors leading onto the stairs and corridor to the first floor were wedged open. Further investigations revealed that there was no evidence of weekly testing of the fire alarm or monthly tests on the emergency lighting, no certification available for the fire extinguishers, and an inadequate fire risk assessment.

On the night of the fire, which the fire service said could have been "extremely serious," the hotel reception had closed at midnight and did not have a night porter on duty. It was also revealed that prior to the fire, employees of the hotel had raised concerns regarding fire safety on the premises.

An enforcement notice was served on manager Ashwin Ratan to take remedial steps to comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order by 30 October.

The company, represented by one of its directors Ram Kalra, was fined £29,715 with £8,000 costs, while Mr Ratan was fined £2,985 with £380 costs.

Rick Taylor, head of community risk management at the fire and rescue service, said: "We have a duty to enforce the fire safety order to protect the public and employees from life threatening risks. We aim to be proactive in any safety approach but will seek to prosecute anyone who plainly disregards public safety, as happened in this case."