A CRAMPED Blackburn warehouse became a "deathtrap" after its fire exits were sealed off.

Fire inspectors said the safety measures in place at the Britannia Mill, on Didsbury Street, were the worst they had ever seen, with no working fire alarm and piles of flammable boxes blocking escape routes.

There was no emergency lighting in case the dimly-lit warehouse had caught fire and no risk assessment had been carried out.

The owner of the business, 59-year-old Sefer Enver, has been fined £12,000 at Blackburn Magistrates Court after admitting six separate breaches of fire safety laws.

Speaking afterwards, Lancashire Fire Service chiefs, who prosecuted Enver after he ignored their previous warnings, said a fire in the mill could easily have killed the three people who worked there.Enver ran two businesses from the mill, Eurosouvenir and Premier Polo, under the banner of clothing manufacturer ESC.

The court was shown photographs of fire exits sealed off and cardboard boxes of clothing piled dangerously high restricting access to escape routes.

One picture showed the only available exit used by one of the employees severely obstructed by piles of boxes.

Another showed a fire alarm calling point - which didn't work properly - obstructed by more boxes.

Under the Fire Safety Order 2005, business owners are responsible for the fire safety measures in their premises.

The court heard Enver had not been present when fire inspectors visited the premises twice in June and July 2007.

On a third visit, a full inspection was carried out, which found a number of "serious breaches" of the order.

On Friday magistrates told Enver, who lives in Buckinghamshire, he had put the people working for him "in danger of their lives" while they tried to help him run his business.

Fining him £2,000 for each of the six offences plus £2,250 costs, they said he had taken "completely no notice" of guidance from fire chiefs.

Outside the court, fire safety inspection officer Tony Clements said he had never seen a more "flagrant breach" of fire safety regulations, and warned company bosses they had to comply with the rules or face action.

He said: "It was a deathtrap, potentially lethal. The building was extremely dangerous.

"The means of escape were totally inadequate and the state of fire precautions was totally unacceptable.

"There were boxes piled high in escape routes, which could have caught fire and easily toppled.

"If there had been a fire there the people inside would have been at risk of death.

"We need to get the message across that it's the duty of every employer to carry out a full risk assessment.

"If they don't, we will take action."

Mr Clements said fire inspectors had not used their powers to close the premises on the spot in July as he had managed to open the fire exits while they were there. Instead they issued an enforcement notice to improve fire safety - which the owner did not comply with Andrew Church-Taylor, defending, said a change in the landlord of Britannia Mill had caused confusion as to who was responsible for fire safety.

He said it had been the landlord, not Enver, who had boarded up the fire exits, and Enver had been negotiating with the landlord to provide emergency lighting, but the negotiations did not progress.

He said the landlord had since repossessed the building, and negotiations were taking place between the parties on the future of the site.

Enver's business is not currently based there, he added.