Owner admits seven offences after raging inferno at Clapham Common health spa Common Sense Natural Centre

The blaze started in a tanning booth in the Common Sense Natural Health Centre, in Clapham Common South Side, on July 4, 2010.

One customer, a 70-year-old woman, was using an isolation tank when the fire broke out.

Among the other people rescued were two women who had to cling to a window ledge  to escape the flames and two other people who had to flee to the roof.

Ron Kemeny, from East Sussex, admitted seven offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order at Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday, April 30.

How the story was reported by the Wandsworth Guardian in July 2010

The company director was handed a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, as well as having to pay £30,000 court costs.

Six people were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

Steve Turek, London Fire Brigade assistant commissioner for fire safety, said: "This was a very serious fire.

"A number of people had to be rescued and the outcome could have been a lot worse.

"The sentence handed down today sends out a clear message that we will not hesitate to prosecute if we believe that building owners are ignoring their responsibilities under fire safety laws.

"It also shows that they will face serious penalties if they put lives at risk."

The cause of the fire was found by fire investigators to be an electrical fault in a tanning booth.

When safety officers visited the health centre the day after the blaze they identified a number of fire safety contraventions.

These included a failure to equip the building with appropriate fire detectors, no fire doors on the ground floor and no self-closing doors leading onto the building’s escape routes.

The defendant was also unable to produce a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment.

Winsmill, the company which owned the health centre, also admitted offences under the act and was fined £8,000