AN ENGINEERING company and its managing director have been fined after carrying out illegal gas work at restaurants, including one in Odiham.

Kaysor Ahmed, managing director of Sylhet Welding UK Ltd, carried out the work himself without being Gas Safe registered, and employed others who were not registered either.

An investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Sylhet supplied industrial catering equipment, such as cooking ranges, to restaurants in the Midlands and the South.

One of Ahmed’s companies illegally carried out gas work at The Crown, the Bangladeshi restaurant in Alton Road, Odiham, in May 2008.

Work also took place at other restaurants, including in Liss, Hampshire, and Weymouth, Dorset.

Last Friday, Ahmed pleaded guilty to breaching gas safety and health and safety regulations, and was fined £6,600, with £2,028 costs, at Leicester Magistrates’ Court. Shylet Welding UK Ltd was also fined £6,600, and ordered to pay £1,118 costs.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Graham Tompkins said: “It is only a matter of luck that no-one has been killed or seriously injured as a result of the illegal gas work carried out by this company.

“In some cases, the installations were left in appalling conditions that put the restaurant staff and customers at real risk of possible fire or explosion.”