Two Bradford city centre nightclubs were ordered to take urgent action after fire safety breaches were found during a crackdown, West Yorkshire Fire Service has revealed.

Firefighters say NV, on Great Horton Road, and Chronicle, on Barry Street, were served prohibition notices during the swoop, which inspected 12 licensed premises across Bradford in an operation to prevent a repeat of a blaze at a Brazilian nightspot which killed 242 people in January.

Ian Bitcon, area manager, said an issue was found with the fire alarm at NV during its visit on Friday, June 7, but the club did not have to close because interim measures were put in place and fire service staff stayed on the site.

The club’s managers were served with a prohibition notice the following day, but had a new automatic fire alarm system installed in time for when the club opened the following night. No one from the club was available for comment.

Mr Bitcon said a prohibition notice was also served on Chronicle, where issues were found with fire exits, and it was restricted to using the ground floor only until improvements are made.

A spokesman for Chronicle disputed it had been served a prohibition notice, saying it did not use or own the first floor and it was an issue for the landlord of the building.

A third of the nightclubs inspected in Bradford on June 7 and 8 were found to pose a ‘serious risk’.

Officers searched for signs of overcrowding, blocked exits, faulty fire alarms and other problems that could endanger life if a fire was to happen. Interim measures were imposed on two unnamed clubs in Bradford, with follow-up audits required at eight of those visited.

The operation, which will be discussed by West Yorkshire Fire Authority’s community safety committee, saw firefighters paid a total of around £10,000 in overtime.

Across West Yorkshire, of the 85 clubs inspected, 48 per cent needed a follow-up audit.

Fire protection manager Chris Kemp, who led the inspection teams, said: “On the whole our inspectors were met with a positive attitude to putting things right and the whole exercise has been a real success.”