12/06/2009 - Fire legislation a cause for concern
A coroner plans to tell the Government there is a "risk of future deaths" if more investment is not put in to fire safety in hotels, an inquest jury has been told.
Coroner Dr Emma Carlyon made the announcement after a jury returned open verdicts into the deaths of Joan Harper, 80, Peter Hughes, 43, and his mother Monica, 86, in a fire at a seafront hotel in Cornwall.
As Dr Carlyon attended Cornwall Coroner's Court, sitting at Truro Crown Court, over the deaths at the Penhallow Hotel in Newquay in August 2007, she told the jury that changes in fire safety regulation - which came into force in October 2006 - had caused concerns during the inquest.
Specifically the Fire Safety Order 2005 places the burden of responsibility of complying with safety measures on the owner of a premises, Dr Carlyon said.
She said: "I intend to write to the minister of tourism to highlight to her the concerns raised by those at the inquest about the change in fire legislation to self regulation in 2006, and the risk of future deaths - in particular to hotels and guesthouses - if sufficient measures are not provided to support the investment in fire safety or to ensure compliance."
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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