A COMPANY which is demolishing a cotton mill in Werneth was served with a notice after its security guard moved into the site’s welfare cabin and caused safety problems.

Lancashire-based TFM Demolition Ltd was set to knock down privately-owned Hartford Mill, off Block Lane, shortly before the first coronavirus lockdown in March 2020 but the job was halted due to restrictions.

A housing development is set to be built in its place.

The demolition resumed this summer but in August, the firm was ordered to stop the work after government agency, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), served the company with an immediate prohibition notice.

Explaining its reason for issuing the notice, the HSE said: “The welfare unit is being used as sleeping accommodation, there are no suitable fire safety precautions, evidence of alcohol use, smoking, flammable materials including a bed, and unsafe means of escape due to a defective door.”

The HSE confirmed TFM has complied with the notice, which was served due to the fire safety precautions, but demolition was not stopped as it was only imposed to prevent workers sleeping onsite in "unsafe provisions".

TFM director Ritchie Higham confirmed the firm still has the demolition contract.

He said: “We received the prohibition order due to our security man using the site welfare cabin as living quarters.

“He had apparently been dealing with some problems at home and took it upon himself to move into the welfare cabin for a week.

“During this time he managed to damage the door handle the outside of cabin and so the door could not be opened from the outside.

“He did not inform us of the damaged door handle and we did not know that he was using the site welfare cabin as living quarters until we received a call from the HSE.

“The HSE was concerned that the broken door handle could be a potential fire a risk in that a person could not be rescued quickly if there was a fire in the cabin.

“The door handle was repaired within one hour of it being reported to us and we had to make the unfortunate decision to let the security man go.

“Works have not ceased on site but they have slowed down and this has nothing to do with the prohibition we received.”

Mr Higham added: “We have tried to salvage as much material as we can from the mill and we are now at a phase where we are salvaging the brick.

“The man who is interested in taking the bricks is currently tied up on other projects but will be back on site cleaning and doing the pallets the brick soon.”