A Cheshire 14th century wedding venue has been fined over £23,000 for breaking fire safety rules and putting lives at risk.
Haslington Hall Ltd, the owners of the Grade 1 listed building, appeared at Chester Magistrates Court on Monday facing charges of nine serious breaches of the Fire Safety Order 2005.
The luxury building was temporarily shut in October 2009 after being served a prohibition order.
The order was lifted a month later after safety improvements were made and the building was allowed to reopen.
But officers later discovered that the venue had been used while the order was still in force.
The company pleaded guilty to nine offences including: failure to provide appropriate fire detectors and alarms, failure to provide adequate and sufficient fire safety training to employees and failure to comply with an enforcement notice and prohibition notice.
Lee Shears, Community Fire Protection Manager for Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "This was an extremely serious case of a business putting people's lives at considerable risk from fire.
"Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service aims to help and support any business to operate safely, however we will take action when owners and managers choose not to treat fire safety as a legitimate business requirement.
"Fire safety is a key part of good business management and Haslington Hall Ltd showed little or no regard for the safety of their guests or employees and the result was a prosecution, which came to light after information was received saying that the premises was being used as a wedding venue.”
The judge sentenced the company to fines of £16,000 and was ordered to pay costs of £7,800 to Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service.
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