Fire hazard boat renting rooms

A CONVERTED Thames coal barge moored on the Thames that is letting its rooms out at £29 a night is like a 'bonfire waiting for a match', a fire safety consultant has stated.

The owner of the converted boat, known locally as 'The Slumboat' converted the  boat to include, it is claimed, 10 separate cabins that he advertises as having 'stunning river views', Keith Gudgin tells us.

Dangerous condition

But a fire protection expert, Arnold Tarling, spending the night in the boat moored on the river at East Moseey told of its dangerous condition and being like a 'bonfire waiting for a match'. There were no fire stoppings from one end of the boat to the other with bulkheads and doors of processed wood boarding or ply.

The owner however contested this stating the boat had fire alarms, fire exits, CO2 alarms, fire blankets and fire extinguishers and was non-smoking throughout.

Airbnb, the Online room renting service handling the lettings, hearing of the danger, removed the listing and is investigating

'Floating dosshouse'

The chairman of the Hampton and Molesey Riverside Trust, told that the boat is locally referred to as the Slumboat, telling that it just turned up, an antiquated, dilapidated, floating dosshouse, which apparently contains 10 bedrooms.

It was last November that the Environment Agency fined the owner of the boat, it being illegally moored on 24 hours sites at West Moseley for a total of six months, from where it moved to its present location.