A HAMPSHIRE firm has been fined after workers and Royal Navy personnel were exposed to asbestos when pipes lined with the substance were left on a roadside.
A court heard how the pipes were removed from HMS Sultan naval training base in Gosport in renewal of a hot water system.
The old pipes were stacked by the side of the road at the base, before being put in an open recycling skip, putting dozens of employees, Navy personnel and passers-by “at risk” of asbestos exposure.
Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court heard that Hedge End-based VT Flagship Ltd was responsible for the works in September 2009.
The firm, based at Grange Drive, was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £5,196 in costs for its role in the incident, after pleading guilty to breaching the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.
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