M&B pub fined over electric shock
Managed operator Mitchells & Butlers has been fined £10,000 after a three-year-old boy suffered an electric shock at one of its Lancashire pubs.
The boy was injured after he touched a live wire hanging from the bar at the Kingfisher Tavern in St George's Park, Kirkham, as his mother ordered food.
M&B admitted one offence of breaching health and safety rules and was fined £10,000, with £4,248 costs and the £15 victim surcharge.
According to the Lancashire Evening Post, Clare Holmes, prosecuting for Fylde Council, told Blackpool magistrates that on March 25 2009 the child's mother heard a scream and saw her younger son lying on the floor.
The family finished their meals, but called NHS Direct from home and went to Blackpool's Victoria Hospital that evening, where a doctor diagnosed an electrical burn.
A spokesman for M&B said: "Health and safety is one of the core principles of our business. This was an isolated incident and the fault was rectified immediately.
"Staff at the pub also undertook refresher health and safety training. Nonetheless we fully acknowledge the failings identified at the pub and accepted responsibility."
