Around one in eight public buildings inspected in Northumberland last year were found in breach of fire safety regulations, figures reveal.

Home Office data shows 34 buildings inspected by the Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service in the year to March did not comply with fire safety laws – 12 per cent of those inspected.

They included seven licensed premises, seven shops and six hotels.

Fire services conduct audits on most public buildings and shared areas of residential properties to ensure they meet safety regulations.

When inspections are unsatisfactory, auditors may issue an informal notification – for example to agree an action plan – or formal ones such as enforcement notices, warning that a building breaches the law.

In the most serious cases, inspectors may issue a prohibition notice to restrict or ban access to a building or may prosecute those responsible for the property’s safety.

In the year to March, the Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service issued nine formal notifications, including four enforcement notices and five prohibition notices. There were no prosecutions.

In response to the pandemic, a number of audits were carried out remotely, though a figure has not been provided by the Home Office.

Across England, 34,400 fire safety audits were carried out in 2020-21 – 29 per cent fewer than the previous year.

In Northumberland, the number of audits dropped by 149 to 278 in the period.

A spokesman for Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service said: "Fire safety officers inspect premises for compliance against the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

"During these inspections, they will identify the fire precautions present and assess these against the requirements of the fire safety order.

"Our staff identified 34 premises (12 per cent of the inspections carried out) where there was a breach of the regulations and this demonstrates that our inspection regime is targeting the correct premises and ensuring that those responsible for the management of fire precautions in these premises, are carrying out their duties.

"Our inspection strategy has identified 88 per cent of premises visited to be compliant or requiring only minor improvements. The 34 premises identified are either now compliant or are working with the fire safety department to achieve compliance.

"NFRS is committed to working with partners and businesses to keep our communities safe and information on how to make commercial premises compliant to the latest fire safety regulations is available on the Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service website https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/Fire/Business.aspx. Additionally, responsible persons for commercial premises can contact our fire safety department at firesafety1@northumberland.gov.uk."

The Government has said it is committed to learning lessons from the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017 which killed more than 70 people.

Fire Minister Lord Greenhalgh said: “Stopping fires before they start is the best way to keep the places where we work and live safe, which is our number one priority.

"Where any issues are identified in initial desktop audits, our fire and rescue services will follow up with full audits conducted in person.”