A Blyth takeaway and its director have been ordered to pay more than £14,000 after breaching a Prohibition Notice served to prevent sleeping on the premises for a second time.
WCC Food Limited, trading as China Cook, on Waterloo Road in Blyth, and its director, were each ordered to pay £7,280 following a court hearing earlier this month - totalling £14,560. In September 2022, Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) found that the company and its director Zhong Sheng Zhang, 37, from Dene View Drive, Blyth, had breached the Prohibition Notice when sleeping materials were found on the premises.
Both the company and director pleaded guilty and each received fines of £5,000 for breaching the notice. They were also ordered to pay a £2,000 victim surcharge and costs of £280 each, totalling £14,560.
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The prosecution is the second against the company for the same offence involving a failure to comply with Fire Safety Legislation. In April 2022, China Cook was fined £3,418 at Newcastle Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to a Prohibition notice which prevented the use of the building's first floor and loft space for sleeping.
The Notice was served on November 26 2021 following a routine fire service audit of the premises, which found beds and bedding on the first floor. A follow up visit on December 10 2021 revealed a breach of the notice, when a person was discovered in bed asleep on the first floor.
Richard Leighton, NFRS Group Manager for Protection, said: "Where breaches of fire safety legislation are so serious that people could face serious injury or even death, we will take necessary enforcement action and when appropriate, prosecute, to ensure the safety of our communities.
"This prosecution is as a direct result of information which NFRS received from our colleagues from Northumberland County Council’s (NCC) Public Protection, Environmental Health team. NFRS works closely with many NCC departments and partner organisations to deliver an effective, efficient service committed to making Northumberland safer."
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