SHERBORNE School and a company director have been prosecuted for failing to protect workers and a student from asbestos.

Several workers including a teenage work experience student were exposed to asbestos fibres in a refurbishment project at the large independent school.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Sherborne School and Peter Eldridge, the director of a company responsible for the refurbishment project, after an investigation found they had failed to identify and prevent the risk of asbestos exposure.

Asbestos insulation boards were removed in an unsafe way, exposing the workers to fibres, and leaving them at risk of developing serious and potentially fatal diseases later in life, Dorchester Crown Court heard.

A Health and Safety Executive investigation found that from the initial design stages in May 2008 right through to undertaking the construction work in July 2009, there was inadequate planning and a failure to carry out a full asbestos survey.

This was despite the fact that a sample taken from the building in 2008 had identified its presence and asbestos had previously been removed from other parts of the school.

Sherborne School was found guilty of breaching regulations and fined a total of £60,000 and ordered to pay £13,000 in costs.

Peter Eldridge, of Long Street, Sherborne, was found guilty of breaching a section of the Health and Safety at Work Act and other regulations. He was fined a total of £10,000 with costs of £6,000.