A hand car wash site in Devizes, Wiltshire, had its power cut off by health and safety inspectors last week after they deemed it unsafe.
Devizes Car Centre on New Park Street was closed this week for repairs after being visited on Friday, 7 July, by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Wiltshire Police’s Human Exploitation and Emerging Threats (HEET) team, which had concerns about working conditions at the business.
The HSE inspection revealed that the car wash was in breach of electricity regulations and employees were at risk of potentially fatal electric shocks, burns and fire.
A HEET team member said last week: “For the safety of the car wash workers and members of the public, the electricity supply will remain off until the required improvements have been made.
"We also had discussions with the workers on site who were found to be earning less than the minimum wage. We are liaising with HMRC’s National Minimum Wage Team following the visit.”
The owner of Devizes Car Centre, Gent Jakupi, and the manager Rob Gerrish said that they were having the electrics repaired and hoped to reopen this weekend or next week.
However, they disputed the HEET team’s findings about workers’ pay and said all five staff members were earning at least the minimum wage.
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