03 July 2012
Hotel chain Travelodge has been fined £13,000 and ordered to pay 6,500 costs after breaching fire safety law at its Gatwick Airport Central hotel.
The company pleaded guilty to seven offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 at Haywards Heath magistrates court on Friday 14 September.
The prosecution was started after crews were called to extinguish a blaze on the ground floor of the six-storey hotel, which was being refurbished at the time, in September 2011. When fire safety officers attended the hotel, they were so concerned by the inadequacy of the fire safety measures that a prohibition notice was served preventing anyone from staying at the hotel.
