AN East Lancashire loft firm has been told to pay £60,000 after a worker died from his injuries following a fall from a roof during a conversion job.

Graham Readfern, 56, saw a ladder collapse under him while working on a project at a property in the Manchester area in January 2012 , the city’s Minshull Street Crown Court was told.

But Mr Readfern, from Bacup, was not caught by the scaffolding, which had not been built high enough to prevent him falling five metres to the ground below.

The sub-contractor, who had been carrying roof felt onto a dormer window, was taken away for hospital treatment following the fall but died of injuries he sustained 17 days later.

Newhey Loft Converstions, of Lloyd Street Mill, Darwen, has now been fined £40,000 with £20,000 costs following a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which saw them plead guilty to two principal offences.

Official records show that Newhey were also later served with two prohibition notices, concerning scaffolding, for work being carried out at their Lloyd Street headquarters.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Matt Greenly said: “This was a large loft conversion job which required the company to increase the height of the original roof to fit dormer windows.

“Although the scaffolding was adequate for the start of the works, once the new and much higher dormer windows were built by Newhey, they should have increased the height of the scaffolding.

“This simple lack of attention to the progress of the works led to Mr Readfern working outside of the safety provided by the original scaffold and sadly suffering a fall which resulted in his death.

“It is clear that had Newhey simply raised the scaffold height, at a cost of only a few hundred pounds, Mr Readfern would never have suffered a fall of this scale and would more than likely still be with his family and friends to this day.

“This simple lack of thought has cost a man his life and a family their father, husband, granddad and friend.”

Official records show that Newhey was also served with two prohibition notices, concerning scaffolding, for work being carried out at their Lloyd Street headquarters, in the same month.