A STORE chain fined £18,000 after it was found to be selling potentially harmful children's coats in the North-East, has had its fine considerably reduced.

Trading standards officers found 18 Bukla fleece coats with drawstring hoods, available for £7.99 each, on racks at the Sunderland branch of Poundstretcher, on Wearside.

Durham Crown Court was told the coats breached children's clothing regulations, because the drawstrings could be removed, posing a risk of strangulation to young wearers.

The court heard that the regulations came into force after an investigation by the BBC consumer programme That's Life!, hosted by Esther Rantzen, in the mid-1970s.

After the discovery of the coats at the Sunderland store, trading standards officers found 13 similar garments on sale at a Poundstretcher store in Ilkeston, Derbyshire.

The Leeds-based company, with 318 stores nationwide, was made aware of the situation and revealed 5,600 of the coats were bought from a regular supplier, Holden Leisure, of Prestwich, Manchester.

Poundstretcher, which has a previous conviction for a similar offence, admitted six specimen charges of breaching child clothing safety legislation and was fined £18,000, with £570 costs, by Sunderland magistrates, in October.

Holden Leisure was fined a total of £8,000, with £570 costs, after admitting four charges.

But Poundstretcher yesterday successfully appealed against the gravity of the fine, saying the coats were bought in good faith from an established supplier.

Simon Myerson, for Poundstretcher, said the offending coats carried a tack in the draw string hood. The company voluntarily withdrew the coats, at a cost of £44,800, and since the case two further tacks have been added to ensure the string cannot be removed.

"My client is a responsible retailer. They are not fools, and don't want a customer to hang themselves with their product," said Mr Myerson.

Judge Gerald Harkins, sitting with two magistrates, agreed to reduce the total fine by £12,000 to £6,000.

"We have regard that diligence has been exercised, but not all due diligence," he said.

"But it was the appellant who offered these garments at the point of sale, and, in such circumstances, there must be an element of deterrent and example to anyone supplying the public.