The owner of a West Lancashire shop was hit by fines and costs of £12,567 “for his failure to put the safety of the public first” after a three-year-old girl received second degree burns at his fabric shop.

Christopher Gerald Brown was found guilty at Ormskirk Magistrates Court in connection with the incident when the girl, from Hesketh Bank, came into contact with a heater which set fire to her dress.

A spokesman for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service said that it was only thanks to the “instinctive and immediate actions of the child's father that there was not more severe consequences”.

The father suffered burns to his hands while trying to put the fire out in the incident, which happened on March 20, 2009 at Browns, of Liverpool Road North, Burscough..

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service Fire Safety Enforcement officers and Environmental Health officers from the borough council had undertaken a joint prosecution against the owner of the business.

The Fire Service have said that following their investigations into the circumstances leading up to the fire, they were “appalled” to find that fire safety at the property had been neglected and had deteriorated to a seriously poor standard. They said this resulted in very serious breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Breaches included the inappropriate use of a propane space heater, inadequate fire fighting equipment, inadequate means of escape and inadequate means of giving warning in case of fire.

Mr Brown was found guilty of the following: of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005; failing to make a suitable and sufficient risk assessment; failing to ensure routes and exits could be used safely and quickly due to poor housekeeping; failing to provide detectors and alarms; and failing to provide emergency exits with adequate emergency lighting.

Mr Brown was also found guilty of two offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act brought by West Lancs Council.

A spokesman for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Under fire safety regulations every responsible person is required to carry out a Fire Risk Assessment.

"This may be done as part of the general Health and Safety Risk Assessment, or as a separate and specific Fire Risk Assessment.

“Regrettable in this instance the responsible person had failed to undertake a Fire Risk Assessment which would have identified the unsuitable use of the Space Heater along with the lack of general fire precaution, and steps required ensure public safety.”

 By Henry James