Whitbread fined for faulty oven

Whitbread has been fined £20,000 and will pay compensation to a former employee who needed hospital treatment after being burnt by a faulty oven in one of its Brewers Fayre pubs.

A faulty ignition unit on the oven at the Orange Tree Public House Restaurant in Solihull, Warwickshire, left Mark Appleyard with burns to his hands and face.

Whitbread was found to be in breach of the Health and Safety Act by Warwickshire County Council environmental health officials. It was fined £12,500 in December and ordered to repair the equipment.

The company was fined a further £7,500 last week after it had failed to comply with the Improvement Notice within the given time.

Whitbread claimed that Appleyard had left two months later "on very good terms". He is now seeking compensation.

"The safety of our customers and staff is foremost. This was a one-off incident due to a faulty ignition which has been repaired," said a Whitbread spokeswoman.

She added that the equipment used at the Orange Tree was not standard to Whitbread pubs and that no additional safety measures were necessary.

"Checks are already carried out on a regular basis," she added.