A LANDLORD and housing co-operative have been handed fines totalling more than £15,000 after 12 French students were living in a home which left them ‘at serious risk of death’.

Damaged fire doors, faulty fire alarms and a lack of fire extinguishers greeted safety experts from the fire service when they raided 143 Manchester Road, Burnley, in October 2014, the town’s magistrates court was told.

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Front and back doors at the four-storey property could only be locked from the inside, potentially hindering any escape in an emergency, the court heard.

Fire chiefs found that 12 French students and two French carers had been given rooms there by Embrace Co-operation Ltd, which had leased the house from Dr Muhammad Bhatti.

Dr Bhatti, 42, of Albany Road, Liverpool, was found guilty after a trial by Pennine magistrates of four offences under fire safety regulations, covering failures to provide general fire precautions, maintaining alarms, ensuring emergency routes could be used and providing easily accessible locks.

Embrace was directly responsible for the placement of the students and failed to carry out an adequate fire risk assessment of the property.

The firm, based in London, pleaded guilty to six offences.

Bhatti was fined a total of £5,320 which includes £4,000 towards the fire service’s legal costs and Embrace was fined £10,500.

Both Dr Bhatti and Embrace were found to have put the occupiers at risk of serious injury or death should a fire occur.

Warren Spencer, for the fire service, said: “The premises contained a number of breaches of fire safety legislation and lack of general fire precautions that placed the occupants at risk of death or serious injury.”

Inspectors also noted there were holes in the basement’s ceiling, which would have caused any fire to spread upwards, as well as the problems with the front and back door locks and lack of firefighting equipment.

Tony Crook, Lancashire Fire’s group safety manager, said: “We hope this prosecution will ensure that the standard of his properties are kept within the requirements of the law.”