A ROOFING contractor admitted serious breaches of health and safety regulations after leaving workers open to serious risk from falling off the side of a roof.

Chris Smith, from Northallerton, was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years at a crown court hearing.

He was also ordered to pay £5,800 costs.

The failures of his company, C Smith Roofing, were easily spotted by health and safety staff who were working at nearby council offices and were able to see the unsafe scaffolding out of their office window.

Mr Smith, of Malpas Road, was also ordered to complete 200 hours of community service after he pleaded guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

Leeds Crown Court was told that in November 2015 Mr Smith was contracted to carry out repairs to the roof of a guest house in Northallerton.

Health and safety inspectors found that scaffolding had been erected along the full length of the roof at the front.

However, due to the presence of a rear conservatory, the company had only erected a partial scaffold at the back of the house.

It failed to take the conservatory into account, leaving approximately two thirds of the rear roof edge unprotected and exposing the workers to risk.

Health and Safety risk managers, who were working at the nearby offices of North Yorkshire County Council, could see the project work being carried out from their office window.

They grew concerned for the safety of two workers on the roof where there was inadequate protection, such as the scaffolding, to stop them falling over the edge.

Prosecutors said the two workers were at risk of falling around seven metres from the unprotected roof edge.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Tania Shiffer said: “Work at height, such as roof work, is a high-risk activity that accounts for a high proportion of workplace serious injuries and fatalities each year.

“There were not suitable or sufficient measures in place to prevent the risk of a person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury.

“This is a good example of HSE working closely with local authority partners, helping Great Britain work well.”