Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service brought the prosecutions following the blaze in August 2019 which destroyed the care home which housed around 150 residents.

Six firms were initially pursued but action against two of them was subsequently dropped.

The trial against the remaining four began on Tuesday at Chester Crown Court but prosecutions were withdrawn yesterday.

Alex Waller, Chief Fire Officer, said: “Following extensive legal submissions heard over the first two days of the trial, unfortunately it became clear this morning (Wednesday 7 May) that there would be no realistic prospect of securing convictions. After carefully considering legal advice, regrettably we have taken the very difficult decision to withdraw our prosecution case against all four defendants.

“We understand that former residents of Beechmere and their families will be disappointed with this outcome, which is not the one we have been working hard to achieve.”

The four defendants, all of whom pleaded not guilty, faced a total of 14 charges between them.

They were:

• Avantage (Cheshire) Ltd – contracted to procure the design, build and finance of Beechmere and operate the village.
• Your Housing Ltd – employed staff at Beechmere and was the ‘responsible person’ for fire safety measures
• Morgan Sindall Property Services Ltd – the facilities management subcontractor to Avantage with responsibility for responsive repairs and cyclical maintenance
• Total Fire Group Ltd – contracted to carry out fire risk assessments in August 2017 and August 2018 at Beechmere.

In October 2024, six charges against roofing contractor MAC Roofing Ltd were dropped and the two against WSP UK Ltd were dropped in February 2025.