Fireworks company fined after blaze shut motorway
Ed O'Meara A pyrotechnics company that had no licence to store explosives that ignited and caused a fire that shut part of a motorway has been fined.
A barn and other containers used by Fireworks & FX Ltd (FFXAP LTD) were destroyed in Welford, near Newbury, Berkshire, when the blaze broke out there on 16 April 2022.
Some debris from the fire was found on a bridlepath about 10m from the site and the M4, about 300m away, was closed between junctions 13 and 14 for about four hours.
The company and its director Terence Herbert, 69, of Binley, Hampshire, were both fined at Reading Crown Court after they both admitted two health and safety breaches.
FFXAP Ltd was fined £9,600 and will pay a nominal contribution towards West Berkshire Council's prosecution costs of £1,000. Herbert was fined £700.
The court heard firefighters were forced to retreat from the fire after hearing loud bangs and let it burn out. A cordon was put up around the site for some days.
The company's licence to store explosives at the Welford site expired in September 2015 and had not been renewed. It had a licence for another site in nearby Peasemore.
Judge Alan Blake said it was unclear how long the explosives had been kept at the Welford site but they had been there for at least six months.
The court heard the council spent £138,000 prosecuting Herbert and his company but that the pair would not have the funds to pay that.
The company has made small losses over the past three years and Herbert is seeking to retire in coming years.
Douglas Scott, for the company and Herbert, said he had an exemplary safety record before the incident following about 50 years in the industry.
The council was approached to comment.
