A CARE home provider has been fined £13,000 for breaching fire safety regulations and putting residents’ lives at risk.

A number of serious breaches were discovered at Blandford Grange Care Home which placed its vulnerable residents, as well as staff and visitors, at an immediate risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.

Firefighters from Blandford station carried out an unannounced visit to the home in July 2011 and reported fire safety concerns. A Fire Safety Manager returned within one hour of the report and noted a number of serious breaches of a safety order of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

These included blocked fire exits, inadequate fire risk assessments, and the presence of straw bales piled up around a generator and between the generator and an external wall, said Andy Fox, head of fire safety at Dorset Fire and Rescue Service.

After a full investigation Dorset Fire Authority took action to prosecute the care home company Life Style Care (2010) PLC, which has now received a hefty find and been ordered to pay £9447.50 in costs for serious breaches to a safety order of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Station Manager Angus Nairn, Fire Safety Enforcement Manager, said: “Under the order the Fire Authority has the power to prosecute those who breach the Order. This is not a decision that Dorset Fire and Rescue Service takes lightly. We only pursue this course of action in the most severe of cases. In this instance we were so concerned about the safety and welfare of residents and staff, that prosecution was the right course of action. We hope this case proves that we will take action where it is deemed necessary.”

David Penney, director of Life Style Care, said the company pleaded guilty to a number of breaches relating to an inspection of the home “not long after it opened”.

He added: “In sentencing, the District Judge recognised that the company had a good fire safety record and that it had taken remedial steps since this inspection, including instructing an external expert consultant to undertake fire risk assessments and making sure that staff are regularly trained in fire safety.

He said the company “deeply regret the circumstances which led to this prosecution” and in subsequent years “continued to reinforce and update its fire safety management policies and procedures”.