A ROOFER will have to pay almost £6,500 after admitting responsibility for an accident in Darlington when a scaffold tower collapsed and hit a passing van.

Michael Williams, owner of Middlesbrough firm Jade Scaffolding, pleaded guilty at his hearing in Bishop Auckland Magistrate's Court yesterday.

Williams was investigated by inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive after the incident in September 2004.

Magistrates were told that the scaffold had not been properly secured to the wall of a shop at 77 Bondgate, and when high winds blew through the busy street, the rig collapsed into the road, hitting a Ford van.

The male driver suffered minor injuries and the vehicle's roof, rear doors and front windscreen were badly damaged.

A second van, which was parked outside the shop, was also damaged.

At his hearing yesterday, Williams, of Longcroft Walk, Pallister Park, Middlesbrough, said: "I employed people to look after the scaffolding.

"The guys I took on all had certificates that made them look like really advanced scaffolders.

"I thought they could do this kind of work asleep, in bed, and with their slippers on.

"I worked in the roofing trade but I didn't know enough about scaffolding. I thought my business would be like a Kwik Fit store, where the owner of the business doesn't know how to change a tyre but he employs people he trusts who know what they are doing.

"I employed a couple of guys to deal with scaffolding.

"Obviously they were not up to it, and ignorance is no excuse.

"The scaffolding came down and it was a disaster, but it could have been a lot worse. Someone could have been killed.

"After that, the scaffolding company was doomed. I couldn't face putting another scaffold up. I couldn't face the thought of anything else going wrong, and I just ceased trading."

Chairman of the bench, Glynn Wales said: "It's quite straight forward - the company you set up was responsible for what happened.

"You didn't check things very thoroughly at all.

"Fortunately for you, people weren't injured seriously, or this case would have been heard in a crown court."

Williams was fined £4,000 plus £2,415 costs.