A shopkeeper who sold potentially dangerous furniture was ordered to pay £8,000 by a court yesterday.

Mahabat Hussain, 31, of Middlesbrough, was told that he deserved to go to jail for selling three-piece suites that burst into flames within 45 seconds of being lit by a match, and gave off killer cyanide fumes.

Hussain said he bought them from a Belgian lorry driver, but had no receipt to trace their origin, Teesside magistrates heard.

Investigators from Middlesbrough Trading Standards served him with a notice banning him from disposing of his stock for six months, but they vanished from his shop, Cut Price Furniture.

He claimed that he took them to the town's incinerator, but he had no paperwork, said Angela Gray, prosecuting.

Hussain, of Victoria Road, pleaded guilty to 16 breaches, in April and May, of the 1998 Furniture and Fire Safety Regulations, and to failing to use his name on business records.

He was also ordered to a maximum community service order of 240 hours, and fined £5,000, with £3,324 costs.

His solicitor Paul Watson said Hussain regretted the incident, but had not been fully informed about the regulations.