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London fire bosses to bill hospitals for false alarms

London Fire Brigade set to introduce call out charges for false alarms

London fire bosses announced a ploy yesterday to milk hundreds of thousands of pounds from the capital's hospitals by charging them for attending false alarms.

Airports, colleges, student halls of residence and other organisations will also be forced to pay up for repeated false alarms - although domestic properties will be excluded.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the first in the country to introduce such charges, which take effect on Wednesday.

Automatic fire alarms can be triggered by non-emergencies - such as burnt toast, dust, faults or maintenance problems. Fire crews respond automatically.

LFB bosses are targeting buildings where 10 or more fire crew turn-outs a year take place. The charge will be more than £300 a call-out - £290 plus VAT.

Most false alarms come from hospitals. Had the charges been in place over the 12 months to March 31 2013 the cost to the city's hospitals would have totalled £499,380, according to the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA).

The authority says the total charges would have been £800,000.

Airports would have paid out £66,410, student halls of residence £45,240, colleges and university £28,420, and nurses' and doctors' accommodation £26,100.

LFEPA denies the charges are intended to be an extra source of revenue for cuts-stricken services but said they are aimed at encouraging organisations to maintain their fire alarms properly.

Many automatic alarms are installed and maintained by contractors, along with the privatisation of a wide range of ancillary services in the NHS.

The Fire Brigades Union is due to stage its next round of strike action over pensions, retirement and safety issues on New Year's Eve.

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