A celebrity-frequented restaurant was ordered to pay £15,642 after a child fell down an open cellar hatch and cracked his head open.
Owners of E and O in London's Notting Hill pleaded guilty to two breaches of health and safety laws. They admitted a delivery hatch had been left open in the pavement outside the restaurant.
A five-year-old boy suffered a one-inch cut to the head when he fell 10 feet into the cellar, according to Kensington and Chelsea Council which brought the prosecution. He was taken to hospital for treatment and a CT scan and discharged the following day.
West London Magistrates Court ordered Asean Ltd, which owns the restaurant, to pay two fines totalling £9,750 plus £1,750 compensation to the boy's parents. During yesterday's hearing the court also ordered Asean Ltd to pay the council's costs of £4,142.
Councillor Fiona Buxton, cabinet member for environmental health at Kensington and Chelsea Council, today said it was "vitally important" for businesses to have proper procedures in place for using cellar hatches. "This was a very serious incident that led to a young boy sustaining a nasty injury," she said.
An E and O spokesman today declined to comment on the accident, which happened in September 2005. According to Tatler magazine's online restaurant guide, E and O is a fusion restaurant popular with famous names such as Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.
Source: http://www.24dash.com
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