TRADER'S FIGHT OVER SCALES

South Devon Herald Express
Tuesday 22nd March 2005

A Torquay shopkeeper is locked in a battle with the council's trading standards department over alleged damage to his shop scales.

Dennis Webb, of Valley Fruit in Sherwell Valley Road, has been fighting the authority for compensation after a trading standards officer decommissioned the scales.

The British Weights and Measures Association has taken up his case and is seeking compensation of £1,050.

The council has offered £100 and has insisted the scales were not damaged.

John Gardner, director of the BWMA, says the association is submitting a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman.

He said the authority took eight months to respond to letters and explain under which powers it had acted.

It has also claimed the council also failed to respond to the compensation request by a set deadline.

Under new laws, Mr Webb's scales were illegal as they measured weight in pounds and ounces rather than metric kilograms.

But Mr Webb said: "I was complying with the new law. I was waiting for a new scale which weighs out in both measures to come.

"Ninety per cent of my customers are elderly and I never get them asking for kilograms. They don't understand it.

"If that's all I used they wouldn't buy anything."

Torbay Council has offered to pay Mr Webb £100 but Mr Gardner is demanding more.

He said: "Mr Webb is entitled to compensation to the value of the machine and also because the council tried to avoid its responsibility for eight months.

"We gave them a deadline of the end of last month to our call for compensation, and when we heard nothing we extended this until the middle March 14. We have not heard from them."

The case is also being backed by the Devon Federation of Small Businesses.

Spokesman Ian Handford said they had taken up Mr Webb's case, even though he is not a member, because of its implications.

He added: "The latest offer from the council is to reimburse him £100, but the weights and measures board consider that inadequate and so do I."

A council spokeswoman said they believed their offer was "fair".

She said: "We apologise that it took so long to respond to this letter, and we acknowledge that we fell seriously below our normal standards, which is to acknowledge letters within 10 working days.

"We do not feel the scales were damaged and our goodwill offer of compensation reflects the delay in responding to the letter.

"We feel Mr Webb understood what he had to do to comply with the law and was given numerous opportunities to do so.

"Decommissioning the scales was a last resort.

"We believe our offer was fair and we would like to resolve this amicably with Mr Webb, at no further cost to the council tax payer, but are happy to work with the local government ombudsman, if that is his wish."