A takeaway restaurant above which staff had been sleeping has been ordered to pay more than £24,000 after admitting a series of offences under fire safety legislation.

On Tuesday 17 January at Chester Magistrates’ Court, the owners of Buffet City Ltd in Chester pleaded guilty to six offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The offences were: not having a working fire alarm; failing to undertake a fire risk assessment; not providing a fire exit that could be used in an emergency without a key; storing combustibles on the means of escape; no working escape lighting; and failing to plan and have appropriate procedures.

The company was also ordered to pay £4,052 in court costs.

Keith Brooks, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service’s head of community fire protection said: “This was an extremely serious case of a business putting the lives of their staff at considerable risk from fire. Staff sleeping in a workplace must be able to escape safely in the event of a fire.

“We are determined to protect the lives of those living and working across Cheshire and so we will continue to take action when businesses, large or small, do not take their fire safety responsibilities seriously.”