Bosses and employees of a shisha bar branded a ‘death-trap’ over serious fire safety failings have been convicted in a landmark prosecution.

The Oasis Lounge on Great Jackson Street, Hulme, was torn down in February 2013 because it was deemed to be a fire risk.

The venue - one long room with settees - was covered by a flammable, Bedouin-style marquee and its only fire exit was blocked by barrels of diesel.

Customers smoked Turkish-style water pipes but the fire service said smouldering charcoal made the premises high-risk and it was ordered to close immediately.

Bosses however flouted the order by continuing to host parties for as many as 150 people. Now four men and two women have been convicted of a string of fire safety offences in what is thought to be biggest prosecution of its kind.

They are Wali Yaqub, 35, of Mauldeth Road, Burnage; Tajamul Khan, 26, of Nebo Street, Bolton; Bushra Javed, 25, of Stainer Street, Longsight; Adeel Bhatti, 26, of Chapel Way Gardens, Oldham; Ishtiaq Ahmed, 36, of Chapelway Gardens, Royton, and Salma Jangeer, 32.

Yaqub and Khan - who had management control - and Javed were found guilty after a three-week trial. The three others pleaded guilty. They will be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court at a date yet to be fixed.

The trial heard barrels of red diesel, used to fuel heaters, blocked the bar’s only fire exit, which could only be opened by yanking a rag attached to a broken metal push bar. The fire alarm also wasn’t switched on and electrical extension cables ‘littered the floor’.

Ultimately, Manchester council bosses had to use Building Act legislation to tear the venue down.

Assistant County Fire Officer Peter O’Reilly said customers could have died. He added: “This prosecution has been one of the largest and most complex ever brought by a fire service in the UK.

“The defendants showed an unprecedented and blatant disregard for the safety of staff and customers. There was a real danger that innocent members of the public would have been trapped and suffered serious injuries or been killed had a fire occurred.

“You only need to look at what happened in Brazil in January 2013, when 241 people died in a nightclub fire, to see how serious a fire in this property could have been.

“Their actions were driven by a desire to make as much money as possible, but their disregard for fire safety put all their customers’ lives in grave danger.”