SUPERMARKET chain Lidl has been fined more than £3,000 for selling furniture that failed safety tests.
Lidl UK GmbH pleaded guilty to one charge of selling an unsafe chair bed that failed fire tests.
The company also pleaded guilty to a charge of incorrectly labelling the furniture.
The prosecution comes six years after the chain was warned by Derbyshire County Council after a similar piece of furniture also failed safety tests.
Chesterfield magistrates fined the company £2,400 for selling unsafe furniture and £800 for the incorrect labelling charge.
The successful prosecution follows a test purchase of a chair bed from Lidl's store in Foljambe Road, Chesterfield, in January, by Derbyshire County Council's trading standards.
County council trading standards officers bought the chair bed and sent it for testing, with the results showing that it failed flammability and labelling requirements.
The chair bed was promoted and sold by Lidl as a chair bed but checks carried out by the company's German manufacturer were conducted as if it was a mattress, which involves different flammability and labelling requirements.
Tests independently commissioned by Lidl, after the company was informed by trading standards of the failed sample, confirmed that the products they had been selling did not comply with the flammability requirements of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988.
Lidl had already sold about 5,400 of the products and, on accepting the product had failed the safety tests, issued a nationwide product recall.
Trading standards officers regularly carry out testing of upholstered furniture, like chairs, sofas and mattresses, to ensure they are fire resistant and have the correct warning labels applied.
All new upholstered furniture sold in the UK must be fire-resistant. This does not mean that it will not burn but, if it catches fire, it will burn more slowly and in some circumstances be self-extinguishing.
Safety standards are designed to ensure that if a cigarette or match was dropped on the furniture it would not readily set alight, giving people more chance of escaping their property.
Derbyshire County Council's deputy cabinet member for health and communities, Councillor Ellie Wilcox, said: "We are very pleased with the outcome of this prosecution.
"Selling furniture that fails flammability tests is very serious. Furniture that is flame-resistant or burns slowly can buy people vital minutes if they need to escape their homes because of a fire, potentially saving their lives."
The decision to prosecute was influenced by the fact that the county council's trading standards had cautioned the company six years earlier after a similar chair bed sample failed flammability tests.
On that occasion Lidl GmbH UK promised to improve its safety checks.
As well as fining the company, Chesterfield magistrates also ordered Lidl to pay £1,197 court costs following the case.
