Successful Prosecution of a Timber Recycling Company

24/03/2009

On the 19th March 2009, at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates Court, Mr George Boden of Boden and Davies Ltd, a timber recycling company sited on Lower Green Lane, Astley, pleaded guilty to a charge of breaching a consent notice previously issued by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority.

The consent notice laid down specific limits on the size of the wood stacks that the company could have on their site. Mr Warren Spencer prosecuting for The Fire Authority, explained to the court that the limits on the dimensions are set so that if a fire occurs involving a stack there will be less damage to the environment and firefighters will be able to bring a fire under control far sooner.

In 2006 an incident involving a stack at the site, needed 6 fire engines and took 14 hours to control.
During an inspection on 22nd August 2008, fire safety enforcement officers discovered a single stack of timber well in excess of the set limits.

The defence offered mitigating circumstances in so far as the company had been wholly co-operative with the investigation and were under pressure due to changes in the recycling industry. Following their deliberations magistrates accepted the guilty plea was offered from the start and fined the company £200. However they also ordered the company to pay the full costs of £2140.50 and a victim surcharge of £15.

Jim Owen, Assistant County Fire Officer (Fire Safety) said, "We always try to work with businesses to ensure they comply with legislative requirements to control the risk of fire and make premises safe. However, we will take action when companies fail to treat fire safety as a legitimate business overhead and put other people and their property at risk."

Editors Notes:

The Prosecution was brought under the following legislation: The Greater Manchester Act 1981 Part 8