A Wirral man has been handed suspended jail time after storing more than 33kg of display fireworks in dangerous conditions at a Moreton pub.

William Poston, 63, of the Coach & Horses pub on Hoylake Road, appeared before Liverpool Magistrates Court on Thursday, October 4 and was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid community work and has to pay £1,590 costs.

Poston had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to storing fireworks in dangerous conditions.

The court heard how Poston had bought a large number of fireworks and stored them in the cellar of the Coach & Horses Pub.

Officers from Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority (MFRA) discovered the boxes of fireworks – amounting to more than 33kg – piled on the floor of the cellar amongst cardboard boxes, electrical equipment and rubbish.

It is believed that had the electrical equipment started a fire, the fireworks would have become quickly involved as they were close to the electrical equipment and other combustible materials.

 

Inside the cellar at the Coach & Horses pub (Picture: MFRA)

The danger of an explosion was apparently so high that the items were seized by officers and immediately removed from the premises.

The court heard that Poston had failed to follow any safety measures required under health and safety regulations for storing fireworks, and had been storing them without a licence.

Any fire would have resulted in an explosion, putting people in the pub or in nearby businesses at risk of serious injury or death as well as the risk posed to the firefighters.

Station manager Chris Head, from MFRA, was one of the officers who discovered the boxes of fireworks, he said: “We found the fireworks piled up in the cellar when they should have been stored in a separate room away from anything that could have started a fire.

"These were professional display fireworks and extremely powerful explosives which require careful handling and must be kept securely, in line with strict safety conditions under Health & Safety Regulations.

"Mr Poston had failed to do any of this and put himself and the public at huge risk.”