Furniture failed fire safety tests

More than 230 items of furniture were sold to Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council for £14,200 by Precision Manufacturing Limited, of Darlington.

The council's trading standards officers carried out tests on the furniture and discovered a series of offences, Teesside magistrates heard.

Fire safety checks found the furniture to be inflammable and the council was forced to replace the items at a cost of more than £24,000.

The company pleaded guilty to two offences under the Trades Description Act and two under the Consumer Protection Act.

Magistrates fined the company £1,000 for each offence.

Director Harpal Toor, 21, of Neasham Avenue, Middlesbrough, admitted the same four offences and was fined £750 for each offence. The company and Mr Toor were also ordered to pay a total of £2,500 costs.

Offences involved a false trade description, falsely stating the items met fire safety regulations, failure of the furniture to comply with flammability requirements, and failure to supply Trading Standards officers with details of manufacture.

The company said it had ceased manufacturing and had employed freelance sales staff. Mr Toor accepted he did not take the relevant steps to check that the materials used met safety standards.

Company secretary Simran Kaur, 22, of Northern Road, Middlesbrough, denied the four offences and was acquitted. The court heard she was employed only as an administrative assistant.

Speaking later, the borough council's cabinet member for community safety, Coun Joyce Benbow, said: "We can only speculate on what could have been the outcome if these checks were not carried out, but it goes without saying that the scenario for a much more worrying end to this issue could easily have occurred.

"The total amount of fines and costs for the company and its director is over £9,500 and that emphasises the degree of seriousness that the court has placed on these offences."