On 9th February 2024, in Reading Magistrates Court, a Thatcham store was ordered to pay fines and costs in the region of £30,000 for dangerous storage of fireworks.
Manmohan Nagpal, and his company JMG Stores Ltd (trading as Today’s Local, Thatcham, Berkshire) had entered guilty pleas to four Health and Safety offences, following an investigation by the Trading Standards Service within the Public Protection Partnership hosted by West Berkshire Council.
During the fireworks season in 2022, trading standards officers visited convenience store Today’s Local, in Crown Mead, Thatcham to carry out a routine check of the storage of fireworks. The officers found that fireworks were being stored dangerously with live electricity and flammable items. They also found rockets and other explosive fireworks which were not allowed to be stored at the premises, and the explosive content was more than double that which was allowed under the licence.
The court heard that trading standards officers had provided advice on prior occasions which had not been acted on by the owner.
The business owner and his company were sentenced to pay total fines and costs amounting to £29,313. This took into account other previous offences but gave credit for the guilty pleas.
The level of harm and culpability was recognised by the chair of the Magistrates who directed her comments to Mr Nagpal saying that Health and Safety is to be taken very seriously especially where there is a threat to the public and employees and that he had a duty of care and responsibility for this. She went on to say that what could have happened would have been devastating and that Mr Nagpal should seek advice and clearance to ensure he did not put anyone at risk in the future as the community may not be so lucky the next time and he may receive a custodial sentence.
Councillor Lee Dillon, Executive Member for Public Safety at West Berkshire Council, commented: “This case demonstrates the valuable work trading standards undertake behind the scenes to protect residents and should act as a warning to other businesses to follow advice from trading standards and to comply with the conditions of their licence.”
Our trading standards service will look to investigate matters where fireworks are not being stored safely or sold legally and we would urge residents that have concerns about activity of this nature to contact the service on: 01635 519930 or e-mail: tsadvice@westberks.gov.uk.
