A BAKERY has been accused of shirking safety regulations laid down by Barnet Council following an investigation into a serious gas leak.

Bosses at Mr Baker, in Brent Street, were served with prohibition notices by the council following a carbon monoxide leak on June 27.

They were ordered not to use their ovens while safety officers from the council carried out a series of checks.

But a senior source from the bakery said he was “unaware” of any notices and claimed they were continuing to operate as normal.

He said: “As far as I was told, everything was checked at the time and is fine to use now, so we are using all the ovens.”

Racks of freshly baked bread and pastries could clearly be seen in the Kosher bakery and customers are being served as usual.

During further questioning, the source said in fact only two of the ovens were being used.

A statement from the council confirmed notices “are currently in place in respect of two ovens” and only one oven is not subject to regulations.

An earlier statement added: “The ovens cannot be used until the council says they can.”

More than 20 people were evacuated from the bakery café at the time of the gas incident and a large section of Brent Street was sealed off.

The London Ambulance Service treated at least eight members of staff as a precaution.

Fire crews from Finchley, Hendon and West Hampstead spent about four hours dealing with the leak.

Council officers are continuing to carry out regular monitoring of the premises and said they will investigate allegations that restricted ovens are being used.

The source at the bakery said: “The manager is very upset about the whole thing. As far as he’s concerned it has been glorified and overexaggerated. He won’t say anything about the incident.”

The Times-Series this week approached owner Israel Cohen to get a response to claims that ovens were being used in contravention of the notices, but he refused to comment.

Council investigations are ongoing.