A 14th century wedding venue has been fined more than £23,00 for putting lives at risk through a lack of fire safety.
Haslington Hall Ltd, owners of the Grade 1 listed building, appeared Chester Magistrates on Monday accused of nine serious breaches of fire safety.
The luxury wedding venue was temporary closed in October 2009 after a prohibition notice was served. A month later, after safety improvements were carried out, the prohibition notice was lifted.
However, officers discovered the venue had been used while the notice was still in force.
The company pleaded guilty to all nine offences including; failure to appropriate fire detectors and alarms; failure to ensure the escape routes and exits could be used quickly; failure to make a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment; failure to provide adequate and sufficient fire safety training to employees; failure to comply with an enforcement notice and failure to comply with a prohibition notice.
Lee Shears, community fire protection manager for Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “This was an extremely serious case of business putting people’s lives at considerable risk from fire.
“Cheshire fire and Rescue aims to help and support any business to operate safely, however we will take action when owners and managers choose not to treat fire safety as a legitimate business requirement.
“Haslington Hall Ltd showed little or no regard for the safety of their guests and employees and the result was a prosecution, which came to light after information was received saying that the premises was being used as a wedding venue.”
The company was sentenced to a £16,000 fine and ordered to pay costs of £7,800 to Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service.