A third of flats inspected on Isle of Man fail fire safety tests

Fire inspections were carried out between April and June

More than a third of flats inspected failed their initial fire safety tests by the Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Service.

Fire officers found 38% did not have the right measures in place when inspected between April and June.

One of the common problems detected was fire doors that did not close properly.

Fire safety officer Carl Kinvig said the service was keen to "educate" people about the what the regulations were to help them comply with them.

Mr Kinvig said while the figure was "worrying", it was an improvement on the 50% failure in inspections between January and March, and he was confident the trend was now "going in the right direction".

However, he said a large percentage of the inspections were "proactive" and had been a result of "people asking us to go in".

He said officers were only discovering the issues "when we're going in", and one of the most common was the issue with fire doors not closing.

"Every fire door within a flat should close fully into its frame, that's quite a lot of the fails we're seeing," he said.

Carl Kinvig said the focus of the fire service was on educating people about the regulations

Mr Kinvig said the service had been without a dedicated flat safety team for more than six years due to budget restraints, however a dedicated three-person team had now been operational for 12 months.

He said the situation could be improved spreading the word within the community about what the regulations are.

"Our focus is very much on education and helping people to comply," he said.

"I don't want anyone to feel worried, if they've got any concerns about their flat just contact the fire safety department."