A Carlisle pallet manufacturer has been fined £10,000 for repeatedly lighting fires at its premises which border two LPG storage sites.
Last week Carlisle Magistrates’ Court heard that Brampton Pallets had ignored two warnings from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).
The HSE first issued a prohibition notice in December 2007, preventing wood being burnt in an open metal drum at the site on Willowholme Industrial Estate.
In April 2009, Brampton’s owner, George Ward, signed a letter which outlined how fires could be lit safely and controlled on the site. However, after a further complaint was made in 2011, HSE inspectors witnessed another unsuitably controlled fire.
In addition to the £10,000 fine, Mr Ward was ordered to pay £3,687 in prosecution costs.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Steven Boyd said Mr Ward had been given several chances to comply with the law.
“By allowing unsuitably controlled fires to be burnt at Brampton Pallets he risked a spark from the fires causing a serious fire or explosion at the gas storage sites next to his business,” said Mr Boyd.
“If this had happened then it had the potential to cause multiple deaths or serious injuries.”
