A SOUTHALL company has been fined £25,000 following a fire at a house in Edgware.

The blaze started when electrical systems under the stairs of the building, in Turner Road, overloaded, on November 14, 2007.

But when the London Fire Brigade returned the following day they found there were no working fire alarms and fire doors were not properly maintained.

This meant a fire in the stairwell would have left anyone upstairs with no way out other than through the windows.

Shoalacre Ltd, of the Broadway, admitted seven counts of breaching fire safety legislation at Harrow Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

Steve Turek, assistant commissioner for fire safety regulation, said: “I urge landlords, business owners and employers to take their fire safety responsibilities very seriously.

“All premises owners and operators must make themselves aware of the regulations, to undertake a fire safety risk assessment, which is now mandatory, and act upon its findings.”