THREE escape rooms in Somerset have been inspected by fire officials following a fire at a similar facility in Poland.

Escape rooms are facilities in which participants are locked in a room (or series of rooms) and must solve a series of puzzles in order to be released.

Five 15-year-old girls died in a fire at such a facility in the city of Koszalin in Poland on January 4 – a fire which also left a 25-year-old man with serious injuries and which is believed to have started as a result of leaking gas cannisters, according to BBC reports.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said it had inspected three escape room facilities in Somerset following the fire, and was still working with one of the premises to ensure it was safe and legally complaint.

The details of the inspections were published as part of a wider report, which came before the fire authority’s audit and performance review committee in Clyst St George on May 10.

The report said: “Escape rooms involve participants being locked in a room, requiring them to solve clues to escape, and are becoming increasingly popular.

“All three premises have received fire safety checks during the last quarter, with two of the three premises progressing to fire safety audits where further action has been required.”

The fire service subsequently confirmed these three escape rooms were all in the “east Somerset” area – which runs from Cheddar in the north to Yeovil in the south, and from Frome in the east to Chard in the west.

It declined to name any of the premises, or the companies which ran them, stating it was not common practice to identify them unless they were the subject of legal proceedings.

A spokesman said: “Due to the way the premises are used, they can potentially pose a higher fire risk if not correctly risk assessed and managed correctly.

“The main purpose of the inspections were to ensure each premises had a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment and adequate fire safety measures in place, including suitable means of raising the alarm and ensuring that the rooms could be quickly and safely evacuated in the event of an emergency without delay.

“We are continuing to work with one premises to ensure compliance with the legislation, and none of the inspections revealed dangerous conditions.”