Council faces £3m shopping centre fire safety bill

Wirral Council did not carry out a survey of fire doors in its Birkenhead shopping centres before buying them

A council will have to spend £3m to replace fire doors on shopping centres it paid over £10m for.

Wirral Council did not carry out a survey of fire doors in the Birkenhead Pyramid and Grange complexes before it bought.

Despite fire safety legislation brought in after the Grenfell Tower disaster being in effect at the time of the purchase in 2023, the council said a survey of the fire doors was not done as it was not required as part of the process.

It has now found that to meet the legal requirements, it will have to spend £1m a year replacing the fire doors - about a third of the price it paid for both sites.

The council said the shopping centres was safe and would remain open.

'Not required'

A council report said: "Fire safety is assessed through a Fire Risk Assessment, and the most recent one did not set out any requirement for interim duties for the council relating to the risk posed by fire."

New fire regulations were brought in across England in January 2023 following the inquiry into 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, in which 72 people were killed.

The Fire Safety Regulations 2022 "require regular checks to ensure that self-closing devices are working and the fire doors, including flat entrance doors, are in efficient working order and in good repair."

The regulations came in several months before the council bought the shopping centres.

The council said the review of the fire doors came after a survey was carried out by its property managers.

"The council did undertake several due diligence activities prior to the acquisition of the centres.

"A fire door survey was not undertaken as this would not be normal due diligence piece of work," members were told.