Forecourt owners are being urged to ensure people carrying out works on their site have the necessary certification to do the job. The warning comes after a Bolton-based company was fined £20,000 after electrical works left an Anglesey petrol station in a dangerous condition.
Caernarfon Magistrates Court ordered Derby Firelec Ltd to pay the fine together with a £2,000 victim surcharge.
Company director Mohammadrafik Patel, who carried out the works at the Dyffryn Garage in Valley without the proper qualifications, was sentenced to 120 hours unpaid community service and ordered to pay £778.53 in costs and victim surcharge.
In sentencing, magistrates warned that the results of the actions, which left the site unearthed and unsafe, “could have been catastrophic.”
Following a case brought by Anglesey Trading Standards both Derby Firelec Ltd and Mr Patel entered guilty pleas in October 2025 to various charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
The court heard how on January 31, 2024, and February 12, 2024, Patel undertook work at the filling station, issuing an electrical installation report declaring the electrical work on site safe, when it was not and defects required immediate attention.
Anglesey Trading Standards, being the Petroleum Enforcement Authority, were forwarded a copy of the electrical installation report on February 13, 2024, and became suspicious of the competency of the issuing electrical engineer given several errors and incomplete sections.
It quickly became apparent that Patel, trading as Derby Firelec Ltd, was not approved under his membership of the Electrical Contractors Association (ECA) to undertake any kind of electrical work within a hazardous area of the petroleum filling station, nor was he CompEx 07 and 08 competent as indicated on his van and paperwork.
Patel and Derby Firelec Ltd claimed to have informed the owners of the filling station that his competency had lapsed and he had yet to receive results of his latest test, which he failed.
However, he was aware of the dangers and still issued a report when earthing on site had not been rectified. Patel expressed remorse for his actions and accepted he had made a mistake.
Anglesey’s Planning and Public Protection portfolio holder, Councillor Nicola Roberts, says: “This was a very serious case and I’m grateful to our Trading Standards team for ensuring that Derby Firelec Ltd and Patel were brought before the court. I hope that this substantial fine sends a clear message that substandard and unsafe work practices will not be tolerated.”
“I would also urge businesses to always ensure that those carrying out works on their behalf have the necessary competency/certification to do the job.”
Patel has since passed the tests and regained his competency for such work.
