Hotelier fined for poor fire alarm maintenance

A hotelier has been fined £5,700 after firemen rushed to tackle a blaze at his hotel and found that the fire alarm had been disconnected.

The broken alarm system, along with 12 faulty fire doors, were discovered at the Surfer hotel in Bournemouth, Dorset, last August.

Guests who had noticed smoke broke the glass alarms but no noise sounded. Everyone was evacuated safely. It later emerged that the alarm had been disconnected to allow guests to smoke.

At Bournemouth Crown Court, owner John Crump admitted failing to maintain anti-fire measures. Vershal Relan, prosecuting, said: "It was by chance that no fatality occurred. If the fire had started at 3am, it could have been quite different."

Mark Raffell, defending, said that the fire, which damaged the basement, had been caused by a guest throwing a cigarette butt behind a curtain. Guests had disconnected the fire alarm so they could smoke, and doors were wedged open because people didn't like them banging.

The judge concluded that, although the problems had been caused by vandalism, maintenance of the hotel had been inadequate.

• Earlier this month, fire broke out at another Bournemouth hotel . At the Highcliff Marriott, the fire brigade praised the sprinkler system and said it had saved lives and the building.

by Ed Baker