HOME appliance manufacturer Beko plc has been fined £76,659 plus £11,000 costs after pleading guilty to breaching product safety regulations following an investigation and prosecution by Herts County Council’s trading standards.

Yesterday (Monday) at Watford Magistrates Court, the company admitted 23 charges of failing in its obligation to notify an enforcement authority about unsafe gas cookers it had continued to supply some four years after concerns arose that they were not “safe products”.

The Watford-based company had a legal obligation, under Regulation 9 of the General Product Safety Regulations 2005, to notify Herts trading standards about any unsafe product where there is a serious risk posed, which it admitted it failed to do.

The court heard that in February 2009, Beko plc became aware of a safety concern around 23 different models of double cavity gas cookers with a separate grill capable of conversion for liquid petroleum gas (LPG). If converted, using one of Beko’s own conversion kits, and if the grill was switched on and the grill door was closed albeit contrary to instructions, there was a risk of a converted cooker releasing carbon monoxide, which can be fatal in high doses. The company only gave formal notification to Herts trading standards in relation to the LPG conversion issues in August 2013.

In mitigation, Beko expressed regret that they did not notify the department and said it was a genuine oversight on part of the company. The prosecution stated that the company had a legal duty to notify, rather than a “preference” and the company breached its legal duty