A Doncaster Company responsible for the running of a care home in Doncaster has been fined by the Doncaster Magistrates’ Court for breaching fire safety laws.

The Old Rectory Nursing Home (Doncaster) Limited, responsible for the Old Rectory Nursing Home, Church Street, Armthorpe, pleaded guilty to a breach of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Inspecting officers from South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s business fire safety team had earlier found that the 37 bedroom care home did not have a suitable or sufficient fire risk assessment in place and in particular, provisions for the time in which staff at the home would be able to evacuate its residents in the event of a fire

The Company were fined £3,500 and ordered to pay £13,325 prosecution costs at Doncaster Magistrates Court on Tuesday (13 June).

Business Fire Safety Manager, Amy Jenkinson, speaking after the hearing, said: “All businesses must ensure that they have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment in place, which should include having effective evacuation strategies. Staff must also receive adequate safety training so they know what to do should they have to evacuate the premises. Fire safety is a key part of business management.

“South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Business Fire Safety Officers will continue to take action when businesses, large or small, do not take their fire safety responsibilities seriously and place residents, staff or the public at risk. Failure to comply with the law can, as this case has shown, result in a prosecution.”

As well as working with premises to help them meet their obligations under fire safety legislation, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue also advocates the use of sprinklers in high-risk residential settings.

For more information visit https://www.syfire.gov.uk/business-advice/