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Interface Enterprises, trading as the Allied Trading Company pleaded guilty at Manchester Magistrates Court to offences which had come to light during a routing investigation.

Employees had been put at risk by having to climb onto high-level racking and had also used fork-lift trucks which were not given the necessary annual checks.

It was admitted that the trucks had never been examined in the whole time the company had owned them.

There was also a failure to carry out risk assessments they had been ordered to make as far back as April 1999 to establish and eliminate potential risks to employees.

Allied Trading Company was fined ?7,000 and ordered to pay ?1,851 costs.

Manchester City Council's environment spokesman Councillor Alan Spinks

He said: "This prosecution shows officers will not wait for an accident to happen before taking enforcement action.

"By taking this prosecution we hope it will send a message to businesses that it is their duty to implement measures which will prevent accidents from happening in the first place."