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The owner of a takeaway restaurant in Croydon has been prosecuted and given a suspended prison sentence for breaching fire safety laws and potentially putting his customers and staff in danger.

Munawar Ahmed, the owner of the Chicken Inn and Takeaway, was given a prohibition notice following an inspection by Croydon Council’s housing enforcement team back in January 2011. The notice prohibited the rooms upstairs from the chicken shop being used as accommodation, as they did not have any of the required safety measures such as fire doors, smoke alarms and emergency lighting in place.

The two floors over the restaurant were also littered with dangerous combustibles, and no fire risk assessment – a vital part of fire safety training courses – had been carried out on the ground floor area.

However, on a follow-up visit, inspectors found that the prohibition notice had been breached and that the two floors were still being used as accommodation. Mr Ahmed was prosecuted and found guilty of breaching fire safety regulations. He was given a 15-month suspended prison sentence.
Commenting on the outcome of the case, the London Fire Brigade’s Steve Turek said:

“This verdict should serve as a stark warning to landlords and business owners that they have a responsibility under fire safety laws to ensure that people living and working in their premises are safe from the risk of fire,”