Firm hit by record fine over safety

A FURNITURE firm has been fined £14,000 for breaching a string of fire safety regulations.

Up to 50 staff worked at CFS Furniture Ltd at Laurel Trading Estate, Higginshaw, which did not have enough fire alarms.

The store housed large amounts of flammable material, including wood and foam, which was stored below inadequate escape routes.

Oldham Magistrates’ Court also heard that there was no emergency lighting, staff had not been trained properly about what to do in a fire and that a blaze would have spread quickly through the premises which did not comply with building regulations.

Former managing director Martin Muldowney (46), of Stubley Lane, Littleborough, was fined £700 with £700 costs earlier this year after pleading guilty to seven fire-safety breaches.

The company, which has since gone into liquidation, was also charged with the same counts.

No one from the firm appeared in court yesterday and the case proceeded in their absence.

As well as receiving a £2,000 fine for each breach, CFS was also hit with a bill for £3,500 court costs.

The fine was the biggest secured in Greater Manchester under fire safety laws.


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