A Suffolk building contractor has been fined after it exposed workers and homeowners to potentially fatal asbestos material during work on a garage extension at a home in Ipswich.

Columbus Building Contractors Ltd was hired by the homeowners to carry out a single-storey front garage extension and a kitchen conversion to the property.

Ipswich Magistrates' Court heard that the garage, an integral part of the home, had an asbestos insulating board (AIB) ceiling that formed a fire break between it and the rest of the house. During the conversion work between 8 May and 2 August 2012, the boards were removed, broken up and left on the homeowners’ front lawn.

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The debris was then placed into open bags before one of the homeowners transported it to the local tip in his car where the possibility of asbestos was identified.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated and prosecuted the company for breaching asbestos safety regulations.

The court was told a licensed contractor had to undertake waste removal of the remaining asbestos material and conduct an environmental clean under fully-controlled conditions.

Columbus Building Contractors Ltd, of Crofton Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, was fined a total of £10,000 and ordered to pay £6,000 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching regulations 8(1) and 11(1)(a) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

(CD/MH)