Mr Irfan Serce, director of Ipek Mobiliya Ltd pleaded guilty to selling an unsafe upholstered item of furniture and was fined £1000, along with costs of £1000 being awarded at Thames Magistrates Court on 25 February 2008.

Hackney Trading Standards officers purchased the sofa bed from the 130-132 Kingsland High Street branch of Ipek Mobiliya in Dalston, E8 in December 2006. The business owners had previously been advised about furniture fire safety regulations by Trading Standards officers.

The item, which had been imported from Turkey was tested by the Furniture Industry Research Association but failed a fire safety test. Mr Serce did produce a fire safety certificate but it was out of date.

Cllr Laing, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods said: “It’s very important that our trading standards do this type of work. All furniture sold in the Hackney must meet proper fire safety regulations. Otherwise shop owners may face a prosecution such as this.”

For more information about safety regulations, please contact Hackney Trading Standards 020 8356 4929.