A LEIGH builder has been fined £1,000 for illegally trading as a gas appliance installer without being registered.

Fred Berry, aged 58, was caught after he incorrectly installed a boiler at the Atherton home of Cecelia Hurst.

Mrs Hurst, of Wigan Road, investigated Mr Berry's background and discovered that he was not a CORGI-registered gas installer.

The Health and Safety Executive was informed and prosecuted Mr Berry under health and safety regulations.

Berry pleaded guilty at Leigh magistrates court to operating as a gas installer without being a CORGI-registered professional.

In his defence, Berry, who operated his company Whitestar from his home in Durban Street, said he had not been able to afford to keep up payments to remain registered.

His solicitor Tony Wemyss said: "It's not that this man has been conning the public. The problem is that he had not attended to his paperwork."

Mr Wemyss said Berry had registered in 1991 and after letting his membership lapse in 1997, was now retraining.

However, prosecuting for the HSE, Jayn Johnson described Berry's work in fitting the boiler for Mrs Hurst as "sub standard".

She added that by law all gas appliance fitters had to be CORGI-registered and submit to checks on their work to ensure their competence.

Berry, who was also ordered to pay £565.90 court costs, was found guilty of installing a boiler and fire at Mrs Hurst's home as well as a gas fire at two other houses in Warlow Drive and Durban Street in Leigh without CORGI documentation.

Mrs Hurst is pursuing a private claim against Berry after claiming she went for six months without hot water or central heating because of the sub standard work on her boiler.

She said after the hearing that she had paid £2,000 to Mr Berry but then had to pay out a further £900 to correct the work.