December 14, 2017

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In court

Convenience store fined £250k for pothole

Fareham Borough Council has successfully prosecuted One Stop Ltd for health and safety failings after a customer tripped over a pothole on the forecourt and sustained serious injuries.

The Fareham and Gosport Environmental Partnership was notified of an accident at One Stop Warasah Road, Warsash, in September 2016.

The ensuing accident investigation carried out by Environmental Health Officers revealed a catalogue of missed opportunities to repair the pothole on the forecourt prior to the accident. The forecourt has since been completely resurfaced.

Not an isolated occurrence

During his judgment, the District Judge said that he couldn’t overlook the fact this was not an isolated occurrence. The pot hole had been reported to the One Stop Ltd on a number of occasions and they failed to repair it.  This failure meant that by the day of the accident the pot hole was of a significant size.

Executive Member for Health and Public Protection, Cllr Cartwright said: “This was a very sad case that resulted in life-changing injuries.

“I really do hope that this judgement sends a firm signal that this Council will deal robustly where serious health and safety failures are not dealt with in a timely manner.”

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T J Griffiths
T J Griffiths
6 years ago

That is a serious fine which looks like it could set a precedent which Councils may not be too chuffed about.

In this case, right outside this shop in the pavement is a road gully grating with the slots parallel to the kerb, ready to catch pram and bicycle wheels. This has been like this for 8 years. You would think that Fareham Borough Council had some responsibility to chase the County Council to maintain the footpath and get them in court but perhaps there aren’t votes in that?