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A former Cheshire nursing home company has been fined £40,000 and must pay £19,283 in costs after pleading guilty to serious breaches of fire safety regulations.

Care home provider Smallwood Homes Ltd, the former owner of Thelwall Grange Nursing Home business in Warrington, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to eight serious breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 when the company appeared before Judge Roger Dutton at Chester Magistrates Court on 17 June 2016.

Smallwood Homes Ltd pleaded guilty to eight offences, which included: the lack of compartmentation; failure to have an adequate risk assessment in place, a suitable fire evacuation procedure, evacuation chairs for means of escape from the upper floors, and fire detection in the basement where the boiler was housed; as well as poor maintenance. Concerns were also raised about the adequacy of staff training.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service first served an enforcement notice on the property for fire safety breaches in February 2014.

Judge Dutton said: ‘You cannot be too careful, fire can very quickly take hold and have serious consequences including, ultimately, death.' He added that, while he accepted fully that the company had taken steps to help deal with issues, this wasn’t enough. He also took into account the fact that the company has since been sold and that Smallwood Homes Ltd no longer owns the Thelwall Grange Nursing Home business.

Simon Gibbins, head of protection at Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service commented: ‘Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service aims to help and support any business to operate safely. However, we will take action when companies choose not to treat fire safety as a legitimate business requirement. We urge all companies to take their fire safety obligations seriously to avoid prosecution.’