THE lives of foreign workers living in £80-a-week accommodation were put at risk by a hotel owner who showed flagrant disregard for the safety of others, a court has heard.

The boss of Burnley’s former Crown Hotel, Salim Virani, has now been given seven days to produce additional documentation for the courts before he is sentenced for a number of fire-related health and safety breaches.

The Crown Hotel, formerly known as the Keirby Park, was shut down in December 2017 after an inspection by Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and Burnley Council.

The inspection found that the hotel, which was being used as long-term accommodation for foreign workers paying £80 a week for lodging, presented a string of problems ranging from a lack of fire detectors and alarms to a faulty alarm panel with a missing smoke sensor. Socks were also found hanging over smoke detectors in communal areas, so residents could smoke inside the premises.

Beds and desks were found to be blocking key exit routes and bin bags full of rubbish were also blocking fire exits on the outside.

The court also heard that sufficient fire risk assessment had not been compiled and adequate fire doors had not been provided throughout the premises.

Virani, the hotel’s sole director, previously admitted to six offences under various fire safety regulations, something prosecutor Joseph Hart described as ‘systematic failures’ which put residents of the hotel at harm.

Virani’s company, Crown Hotel (Stone) Ltd, of King Street, Longton, through which he leased the building, is also set to be sentenced for failing to take general fire safety precautions.

Mr Hart said: “This is a series of breaches and a systematic failure which put residents at risk or harm. There has been a flagrant disregard for the law and economically vulnerable individuals were put at risk.”

Virani’s defence barrister, Iain Simkin, said his 71-year-old client had no criminal record and was of ‘exemplary character’.

He also said Virani, of Tick Hill Lane, Dilhorne, holds a religious status in his area, holding weekly meetings with residents. He owns a further two hotels in Staffordshire.

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Owners of the building, Mayfair Developments (MCR) Ltd, leased the premises to Virani in 2017 and he no longer holds any involvement in the building.

Judge Andrew Woolman, sitting at Preston Crown Court, ordered further financial paperwork to be presented before he passes sentence.