A BUSINESSMAN who falsely claimed his removals and storage firm was insured was ordered to pay £350.

But he was told he could have faced a more severe penalty if he not already been declared bankrupt.

Keith Mills, one-time proprietor of Bailey's Keep Moving Removals and Storage, Hill Crest Avenue, Cliviger, pleaded guilty to two offences under the Trade Descriptions Act during a prosecution at Reedley Magistrates' Court.

He was given a conditional discharge for a year and ordered to pay £350 in compensation after falsely claiming that his firm was fully insured.

The court heard that in January 1998, a Miss Burkett from Blacko paid Mills £860 to move and store her furniture after seeing his advertisement in the Yellow Pages. Both the advertisement and an invoice supplied by Mills indicated that the business was fully insured.

But when Miss Burkett later tried to make a claim for damaged furniture, it emerged that there was no insurance cover in place. Magistrates also heard a second case involving customers from Burnley who claimed valuable ornaments had been damaged in transit in 1999.

After sending them an estimate for the cost of replacement, Mills repeatedly told them that their claim was with his insurers and he would chase it up.

He had already been asked to produce evidence of insurance cover to a trading standards officer.

The court was told that the business had started to run into financial difficulties in 1997 and insurance cover had not been renewed. In January 2001, Mills had been declared bankrupt and a long-standing injury meant that he would never be able to work again.

Noting a similar conviction from 1994, magistrates told Mills that were it not for his bankruptcy he could have expected a much more severe penalty.

Mills was also ordered to pay compensation of £250 to Miss Burkett and £100 to Mr and Mrs Murray.