Barry Island funfair owner fined over safety failings

Henry Danter at Barry Island funfair

The owner of Barry Island amusement park has been ordered to pay £35,000 in fines and court costs after failing to make one of his arcades safe.

Henry Danter, 73, had been told by Vale of Glamorgan council officials that foundation failings meant the building was not structurally sound.

He previously admitted breaking building regulations at Cardiff Magistrates' Court.

A judge said he "cut costs at the expense of safety".

Danter, of Symonds Yat, Herefordshire, told the court he had ploughed all his money into redeveloping the funfair after buying the derelict site in 2015 and had been driven by a desire to make it "the number one tourist attraction in Wales".

He admitted: "We probably tried to do too much too quickly and we overspent on it because we were getting such a great response from the public and other businesses in Barry Island."

Scenes for the hit BBC TV show Gavin and Stacey were filmed at the amusement park.

Scenes from the BBC comedy Gavin and Stacey were filmed at Barry Island's amusement park

The court heard Danter had been told about issues with the Treasure Island structure by building control officers in January and April last year.

But District Judge Bodfan Jenkins said he did not do any work to put right the problems until this month - after he had pleaded guilty and ahead of his sentencing hearing.

The court heard most of the work to secure the foundations of the building which houses arcade games and dodgems had now been completed and had been inspected by the council.

However, some work still needed to be carried out.

"Until recently the defendant has ignored the risk," said Judge Jenkins.

"He could have accepted the concerns of the authority and its experts or instruct his own engineer. He did nothing.

"He has acted as he has to avoid what he saw as unnecessary expense. I'm of the view he's flagrantly disregarded the law."

Danter was fined £20,700 and ordered to pay £14,311 in court costs.