CHANDLER'S Ford based DIY giant B&Q was fined £550,000 for flouting health and safety laws following the death of a grandmother at one of it stores.

The breaches at the Fleetsbridge superstore in Poole led to the death of Pamela Hinchliffe after being crushed by a forklift truck.

Last month B&Q was found guilty of five counts of failing to protect the health and safety of its customers, including 68-year-old Mrs Hinchliffe, of Poole, in June 2001.

Sentencing the company at Bournemouth Crown Court yesterday, Judge Roger Jarvis said: "There will be public disquiet at the unnecessary loss of life.

"The responsibility is corporate. It is clear there was a failure of local management and more senior management.

"A great deal of evidence arises from tapes of movements in the store. I am driven to the conclusion that the company was blind to considering the images on those tapes."

Judge Jarvis said "the considerable risks and dangers" posed by forklift trucks had been "sadly illustrated" by Mrs Hinchliffe's death, adding: "Any breach is a very serious matter."

Mrs Hinchliffe's husband Mick said the sentence "reflected the severity of the case."

He added: "Throughout this trial B&Q has acted in a high-handed way and expressed no sympathy.

"We only ever wanted an apology. It would have saved them a large amount of money. This was an accident waiting to happen and Pamela died needlessly."

Peter Pawlowski, the borough of Poole's head of consumer protection service, which brought the case, said:

"The fine, together with the award of £250,000 prosecution costs, is one of the highest ever set for offences within the retail sector."