A Bolton building firm has appeared in court after two workers were spotted replacing guttering in high winds while using unsafe scaffolding.

R Hamer Ltd was prosecuted after a concerned member of the public reported the work to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Trafford Magistrates' Court heard the roofing work was being carried out on a house at Timberbottom in Bradshaw. When an inspector visited the site on 1 February 2013, he found the men on two badly-erected scaffolding towers with an unsecured board being used as a walkway between them.

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The court was told there was also no edge protection on the scaffolding, such as handrails or toe boards, and the workers were not using harnesses to prevent them being injured in a fall. One of the men was also seen climbing down the outside of the scaffolding rather than using an access ladder.

The inspector immediately issued a Prohibition Notice ordering the workers to come down from the scaffolding until it had been made safe.

R Hamer Ltd, of Dene Bank in Bradshaw, received a 12-month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £562 in prosecution costs after pleading guilty to a breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

(CD/JP)