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The owner of a property in the Oxfordshire town of Abingdon has been fined more than £2,000 by the local authorities after he ignored warnings about dangerous fire safety breaches.

Dong Lei, was prosecuted and fined by the local council after fire safety inspectors found serious problems at his Stert Street house. The main issue was that he was allowing people to sleep on the top floor of his property, even though tenants could be at serious risk if a fire broke out.

Fire safety officers were also unhappy with Mr Lei’s failure to provide an adequate fire alarm system within the property and to provide a safe means of escape in case of fire. These are both elements covered as part of fire safety training.

Mr Lei was issued with a Prohibition Notice preventing him from allowing tenants on the top floor of his property, but he was found in later inspections to have ignored the formal warning.

For the breaches and for ignoring fire safety warnings, Mr Lei was fined £2,250 and ordered to pay court costs of £1,300.

The council’s deputy chief fire officer Colin Thomas commented on the case, saying:

“Hopefully, this case will serve as a reminder to landlords of the need to ensure they comply with their statutory responsibilities and provide safe accommodation.”