A cafe which rigged up an electricity supply to a neighbour after being cut off has been fined.
Luton Borough Council successfully prosecuted the director of Cafe Roma (Luton) Ltd at Luton Magistates last Tuesday for health and safety offences.
Following an alert from an electricity provider who cut off the power to Café Roma at 25 Hitchin Road in Luton in July last year, the Council’s Food and Safety team visited and found it trading with the lights on and electrical appliances working.
A search of the premises revealed an electrical cable connected to the electrical distribution board of The Ranch, a takeaway next door. The cable was not secured safely and the distribution board door was open, exposing live electrical connections.
An independent emergency electrician confirmed a very real risk to the health and safety of staff and customers in Cafe Roma and The Ranch because the cable was not secured safely with an adequate overload protection for the cable, and a risk of electric shock from the exposed electrical connections. The electrician carried out immediate remedial work.
Council officers served a Prohibition Notice to prevent re-connection of the dangerous supply, and an Improvement Notice requiring the electrical installation to be checked by a competent person - but this did not happen within the time limits.
Cafe Roma (Luton) Ltd director, Mr Robi Miah of 29 St Michael’s Crescent in Luton, pleaded guilty to three health and safety offences. Magistrates ordered him to pay fines totalling £330, plus a £20 victim surcharge.
Cllr Aslam Khan, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Health, said: “Health and safety laws exist to protect staff and customers from danger. Businesses that ignore these laws are putting people’s lives at risk and face the possibility of prosecution, fines and even prison in some cases.”
For more information on the work of the Council’s Food and Safety team see www.luton.gov.uk/healthandsafety