Illegal fireworks found during investigation into fatal factory blaze (From The Argus)

Illegal fireworks found during investigation into fatal factory blaze

4:00pm Friday 27th November 2009 in

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Illegal fireworks were discovered by investigators following a fatal explosion at a factory.

Investigators also found other fireworks had been modified which would have caused them to be potentially hazardous.

Two firemen died when a metal container packed with ten tonnes of fireworks exploded after a blaze started at Marlie Farm at Shortgate, near Lewes, on December 3 2006.

Support officer Brian Wembridge, 63, who was videoing the scene, and retained firefighter Geoff Wicker, 49, were killed and 20 other people were injured.

Martin Winter, 52, the managing director of Alpha Fireworks, and his son, Nathan, 25, both of Marlie Farm, deny the manslaughter of the two men at a trial at Lewes Crown Court.

Firework expert Stuart Myatt told the court illegal "spinner" fireworks were among hundreds of articles recovered from the site.

He said the spinners, which were designed to rotate on the ground before jumping in the air, were banned in the UK because of their erratic flight.

Many firework companies had not used them for decades but they were only formally made illegal in 1997 under firework safety regulations.

The trial continues on Monday.