TWO firms whose negligence led to the death of a nine-year-old girl have been fined a total of £200,000.

Lisa Regan, of Belgrave Road, Colne, drowned in a water tank at BSN Medical in the town.

The accident happened after a series of gates were left open or badly secured.

The multinational medical supplies firm, which finishes textiles at Glen Mill, North Valley Road, Colne, pleaded guilty to failing to protect the health and safety of non-employees at Preston Crown Court yesterday.

It was fined £175,000 and ordered to pay £36,228 in court costs.

Colne family firm Empress Mills, which bought the site from BSN Medical at the end of 2003 and leased half, including the tank area, back to the firm, pleaded guilty to the same charge.

Bosses Christine Driver and her brother Winston were fined £25,000, and ordered to pay £10,000 costs.

Both firms expressed their sympathies to Lisa's family after the hearing.

But her mother Lin hit out at the fines saying they should have been "much, much more" and did not make up for the loss of her little girl.

Health and Safety bosses said corporate manslaughter charges and gross negligence charges were not considered as they were very difficult to prove.

Both BSN and Empress Mills had believed the medical firm was in charge of the water tank area, but a loophole in the lease contract meant the Driver family was also culpable.

Nigel Laurence, prosecuting on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said the gate into the BSN car park had been left off its hinges, another leading into the site had no lock, while the padlock for the gate into the reservoir area had been lost, and replaced with a nylon rope.

Children regularly played in the car park, and on the evening before Lisa's death, engineers had noticed youngsters on the walkway above the tanks, dropping things into the water.

They tried to lock the gate, but the padlock was missing, and instead they tied it shut.

It is thought that Lisa, who was with three other children at the factory, untied the rope herself when she visited on Saturday, May 8 2004.

The company had never carried out a risk assessment on the area, the court heard.

Tom Bayliss QC, for BSN, said the gate being left insecure was a "one-off", and had happened in the confusion of building work around the car park.

Judge Andrew Gilbart said the errors represented a "systematic failure" on health and safety.

He said: "I don't accept that the rope was in any sense a sensible precaution and regard it as a grossly inadequate attempt to secure the gate.

"At worst, a trip to the DIY shop would have equipped them with a padlock and chain to keep it closed, knowing children were playing in the vicinity of an obviously lethal trap."

He added that the firm had also failed by never making an attempt to secure the tanks themselves against anyone falling in, but accepted that it had a previously good safety record, and the water tank area now complied with guidelines.

Mr Bayliss said the company's guilty plea came with "genuine remorse".

But Mrs Regan said after the hearing: "It should have been more. Much, much more.

"It's not a lot of money to them - they've got away with it really, and I've lost a daughter.

"She was my little girl and I will never get her back. We all miss her so much.

"I couldn't face being in court because I couldn't go back over what happened to her again.

Judge Gilbart said Empress Mill bore a lesser responsibility, even though they were legally in charge of the area.

He also paid tribute to Lisa, saying: "She was obviously a bright, lovely and engaging girl and nothing I can say or do will bring her back.

"All I can say to the family directly is to express my sympathy."

Mrs Driver, of Empress Mills, said her family deeply regretted the little girl's death.

She said the firm had admitted at the first opportunity that it had not risk-assessed the area, not believing it to be their responsibility.

The court was told Empress Mills had been under pressure to complete the purchase of the building very quickly at the end of 2003, and the problem with the lease had not been noticed.

The family had only been running the business from Glen Mill for around four weeks when the tragedy happened.

Mrs Driver said afterwards: "The judge agreed that we were minimally to blame and BSN accepted the lion's share of the responsibility.

"Our sympathies go out to Lisa's family, and we have learned from our mistake."

A spokesman for BSN Medical said: "Firstly, our thoughts and sympathies remain with Lisa Regan's family and friends and we deeply appreciate the loss of life that this tragic accident has caused.

"Today's ruling by the court is in line with previous court judgements involving similar cases.

"Whilst the company has an excellent health and safety record, we are constantly looking for ways to prevent harm from happening to our employees and the public."