A BUILDING firm has been fined more than £2,000 for using a logo that wrongly claimed the company was a member of a national building organisation.

Manor Building Services, based in Manor Road, Darlington, admitted three charges of using the logo of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) on paperwork sent to clients, which might lead them to believe the company had been endorsed or accredited by that organisation.

A private prosecution was brought against Manor Building Services by Darlington Borough Council after officers received a complaint from customers of the firm, who had received a written quote and two letters which featured the logo in the letterhead.

Darlington Magistrates’ Court heard that Manor Building Services had been a member of the FMB between 2008 and 2009, but had continued to use the logo on its correspondence and signage after it cancelled its membership.

Amy Wennington, on behalf of Darlington Borough Council, said the company had been warned by the both the council and the FMB to remove the logo on several occasions last year.

In mitigation, Terry Hamer told magistrates that Manor Building Services is a small firm, largely run by director Mark Parkinson and his wife from their home.

Mr Hamer added : “My client is a bad administrator, not a criminal. He received letters asking him to remove the logo and he took it off his vehicle and the signage but it was still on his headed notepaper.

“He ordered new paper but did not destroy the old letterheads and used them by accident. The reality is that he did not do this as a deliberate act, it was a mistake.

“He keeps the paper in a filing cabinet and, when he was in a rush, he picked up the wrong letterheads and did not notice.”

The Federation of Master Builders is a trade association which aims to protect the interests of small building firms.

Members must be vetted by the organisation before they can join and are given permission to use its logo.

Magistrates fined the company £800 for each of the three offences, with court costs of £300 and a £15 victim surcharge.

They also asked the firm to ensure that remaining stocks of the old letterheads were destroyed.