Firms face £350 fee for repeated false alarms
A FIRE brigade in Yorkshire has announced it will enforce charges against businesses who are guilty of repeated false alarm call-outs.
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has approved the charge on firms responsible for more than three false alarm call-outs in a 12-month period.
The £350 charge is aimed at reducing unnecessary call-outs as the brigade battles to cut costs amid the Government’s austerity drive. False alarm call-outs in West Yorkshire have fallen by 42 per cent in the last three years. But the brigade still attends more than 3,600 false call-outs annually due to faulty apparatus or poor management, accounting for 16 per cent of all reports.
Government research has shown the average false alarm costs a business about £1,900 due to loss of production and customer service.