A property company has been ordered to pay more than �5,000 by a court after breaking health and safety rules on a building site.
Leicester Magistrates' Court heard an inspector feared work being carried out by Saleh Properties Ltd was putting employees and members of the public at risk.
The Coleman Road company had been working on the demolition of a former factory in Spinney Hill, to make way for new homes, when it had been inspected.
Stephen Farthing, for the Health and Safety Executive, told magistrates construction site examiner Alex Winkler visited the site on April 21 last year.
"He had serious concerns about workers at the site and members of the public being at risk," said Mr Farthing.
The court heard Mr Winkler found that no safety measures had been provided for people working in high places.
"There were no platforms or scaffolding. One person was only standing on a service pipe while another was working next to an open edge with a five-metre fall."
Mr Farthing said falls from height was one of the biggest causes of death or permanent injury faced by construction workers.
He added: "They (employees) were allowed to walk around on the roof, showing complete disregard to health and safety regulations."
He said the company had a legal obligation to ensure safety.
"The contractor had little knowledge of health and safety, there had been no risk assessment and no proper demolition plan made before work started.
"This led to an unsafe structure – a front brickwork which was usually held in place by the roof infrastructure and a main beam was in danger of collapsing, putting members of the public at risk.
"The roof had been removed and the beam had been cut through so there was nothing to support the bricks and no fencing or other protection between it and a footpath."
Mr Farthing said work had stopped as a result of Mr Winkler's findings and fencing and scaffolding had been installed.
Company director Sajid Patel pleaded guilty to charges of failing to take reasonable steps to protect workers and the public from danger at a site on Orson Street, and failing to provide safety measures for workers in danger from falling from heights.
The company was fined �2,000 on each charge and ordered to pay �1,084 costs and a �15 victims of crime surcharge.
Charnjit Jutla, for the company, said Mr Patel was deeply remorseful. She said: "The company never had previous experience of demolishing a building of this magnitude."
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