A Plymouth property developer put the lives of builders at risk by letting them work near unprotected holes up to nine metres deep at a "Dickensian" site in Cardiff, a court has heard.

John Pinn was refurbishing two Victorian terraced properties in Crwys Road, Cathays, Cardiff, in November 2012 when the failings were uncovered by a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector following a complaint.

In a prosecution brought by HSE, Cardiff Magistrates heard that Mr Pinn visited the site every day and would have been aware of the dangerous conditions his builders were working in.

When the HSE inspector visited the site, he found both houses had been gutted and additional floors were being installed.

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There were large, unprotected holes several metres deep in the floors that posed a danger, and unprotected open edges on all three upper floors of both houses, where workers could easily have fallen to the concrete basement floor below.

General site conditions were described by HSE as 'Dickensian', with substantial accumulations of combustible waste, no fire-fighting or fire-detection equipment, electrical distribution boards with water pouring over them and no welfare facilities, such as a working toilet and basic washing equipment.

The court was told that Mr Pinn also failed to notify HSE that he had started a construction project likely to last more than 30 days. He had not appointed a Principal Contractor or a co-ordinator to plan, manage and monitor the work. The HSE were therefore unaware that the site existed until the complaint was made.

John Pinn, of Powisland Drive, Plymouth, pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and one breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. He was fined a total of £4,600.

(CD/JP)