Colchester Zoo fined £30,000 for asbestos disposal breach

A zoo has been fined £30,000 for a string of health and safety offences involving asbestos.

Charges against Colchester Zoo were brought by Colchester Borough Council following a routine health and safety check in June 2010.

An inspector found asbestos boards taken from a hay barn and dumped in a skip, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

The zoo admitted 12 health and safety breaches including failing to adequately protect staff.

It was fined £30,000 for the asbestos offences and £5,000 for a separate breach that involved staff not being properly trained to use a fork-lift truck.

The court heard that when questioned by the council, the zoo's director Anthony Tropeano said the safety breaches were an honest mistake.

He said the errors were made in ignorance rather than in an attempt to cut corners.

The zoo said: "Colchester Zoo deeply regrets that on this one occasion, as a result of an administrative oversight, proper procedures were not followed."

The council said: "We hope this sentence sends out a clear message that the council is committed to identifying and prosecuting businesses not operating to health and safety guidelines."