A TOURIST attraction has been fined £8,000 by Skipton magistrates after admitting failing to report accidents, which involved children, to Craven District Council.

Magistrates accepted Billy Bob's Ice Cream Parlour, at Halton East, had admitted its failure at the first opportunity, had its own reporting system in place, and had made steps to make sure it never happened again.

But bench chairman Anne Kay said had the accidents been reported properly, swift action could have been taken to avoid any others.

The court heard four children - who cannot be named - suffered injuries at the centre over a short period of time between April and July, 2013.

The children were either there as part of an organised party, or with their parents, and were playing in one of two play barns at the centre, based at Calm Slate Farm.

Nadim Bashir, for the council, said one child suffered multiple, complex fractures after jumping off bales of hay onto hard ground instead of mattresses, while another fell off a rope swing and fractured her wrist. The other two also sustained fractures.

The children received first aid at the centre before being taken to hospital and the accidents were reported in the company's own records, but the necessary reporting to Craven District Council under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) was not carried out.

Tom Gilbart, for Billy Bob's Parlour Ltd, said the centre was a family-run business run by Gary and Amanda Rogers which employed 100 people.

He said it had developed from a travelling ice cream business to a visitor centre which then expanded to provide play facilities in the shape of two play barns.

The company did not take a 'cavalier' attitude to health and safety and when the Rogers first considered play activities, they had travelled to the United States to study Amish families and their method of play, he said.

He said details of three of the four accidents were noted internally and that further correspondence had taken place between the company, the hospital and parents.

Since 2013, all employees were trained in first aid and in how to make RIDDOR reports, an outside company came in to carry out training and an independent company carried out six monthly health and safety checks.

Mr Gilbart said it was a single offence and suggested it was at the lowest level.

"This is out of character for an impressive local company and admitted at the earliest opportunity," he said.

For admitting the contravention of a health and safety regulation in that it failed to notify the council of reportable injuries, Billy Bob's was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay a £15 surcharge.