Motorsport firm fined £62k for safety breaches

The organiser of a motorsport event has been fined more than £60,000 after attendees fell ill and had to be evacuated due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Seventeen people were taken to hospital following the Motorsport with Attitude Limited event at Staffordshire County Showground, near Stafford, in February 2024.

Judge Kevin Grego, sitting at Cannock Magistrates' Court on Friday, said the company had been either "cavalier" in its approach to safety or "naive in the extreme", according to a statement issued by Stafford Borough Council.

The firm pleaded guilty to five health and safety offences.

The number of patients requiring treatment almost led to hospital bosses declaring a major incident, the council said.

The court was told that the fire and rescue service received complaints about spectators feeling unwell and recorded high levels of carbon monoxide inside the main arena.

Lucy Taylor-Grime, prosecuting, said the firm had ignored advice in an email marked "urgent information" prior to the event which warned arrangements for extracting fumes were not adequate.

"This could have been much worse - although if the council had been informed prior to the event this situation could have been avoided," she said.

The authority said the company's director, David Rennie, told officers investigating the incident that an event marshall who had fallen ill looked as if he was "putting it on" and described the man's appearance as like "an eight-year-old who doesn't want to go to school".

Mr Rennie pleaded guilty to five charges on behalf of Motorsport with Attitude Ltd relating to the incident.

These included failing to have a valid risk assessment and not having adequate systems to deal with carbon monoxide build-up.

The company was fined and ordered to pay costs of £62,645.78 in total.

The council said a representative for the company expressed remorse for what had happened and added they had been "woefully unprepared".

"People going to this type of motorsport event must be confident that the organisers have all the checks and balances in place for it to run safely," said Gill McMullin, a senior environmental health officer at Stafford Borough Council.

"We want organisers to run fantastic events in our borough that bring people to the area and provide a boost to the local economy."

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