Bug death authority 'a shambles'

The outbreak was traced to an air conditioning unit at Forum 28

A coroner has described a council's health and safety regime as a "shambles" during a fatal Legionnaires' disease outbreak in Cumbria.

The bug, which killed seven people in 2002, was traced to an air conditioning unit at the Forum 28 centre in Barrow.

On Thursday coroner Ian Smith said no-one at Barrow Council had taken responsibility for checking the unit.

Speaking at the close of the inquest at Furness Magistrates' Court, he said the authority ignored clear warnings.

Five warnings

Mr Smith also called on the council to publicly state what steps it had taken to improve health and safety since the 2002 outbreak.

The coroner said the council had been given at least five clear warnings about the dangers of Legionnaires in its Forum 28 air conditioning system, yet these were all ignored.

He recorded five verdicts of death as a direct consequence of an outbreak of legionnaires' disease.

The other two people, he said, died from natural causes but legionnaires had been a contributory factor.

The seven died after an alley outside the Forum 28 arts complex was showered with water droplets containing the bacteria.

Court fine

Barrow Council, which runs Forum 28, and contractors Interserve admitted vital chemical treatment had not been carried out on the air conditioning unit.

The seven people who died were Richard Macauley, 89, Wendy Milburn, 56, Georgina Sommerville, 54, Harriet Low, 74, Elizabeth Dixon, 80, June Miles, 56, and Christina Merewood, 55.

A further 180 people were infected.

Barrow Council was later cleared of corporate manslaughter following the deaths, but fined £125,000 for breaching health and safety laws.

The council's then design services manager, Gillian Beckingham, was convicted of health and safety breaches but cleared of manslaughter.