Gaskells Demolition Services was hired to demolish the building in Thornton Cleveleys ahead of a supermarket being built on the site. During the work in June last year, part of the building and scaffolding collapsed, blocking the two northbound lanes of the A587 dual carriageway during rush hour and the entire width of Runneymede Avenue for several hours.
No one was injured in the collapse but one pedestrian suffered a near-miss and a car was also damaged.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that, although the company had taken some precautions, it had failed to set up safe arrangements for the demolition such as an exclusion zone around the building. It also failed to apply to the council for temporary road closures while the work took place.
The scaffolding put up along the front of the building was to allow workers to access it, rather than to support it.
Gaskells Demolition Services Ltd admitted breaching Regulation 29(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. The company, of Oriel Road in Bootle, was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 in prosecution costs on 11 May 2011.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Anthony Polec said: "The risk of buildings unexpectedly collapsing is well known in the demolition industry but Gaskells failed to take adequate action to prevent lives being put in danger.
"The company should have put suitable measures in place to protect the public, such as applying to close the roads while the demolition work took place and setting up an exclusion zone to keep the public away.
"It could also have erected facade retention scaffolding that could support the building, rather than relying on employees to keep a lookout for passers-by.
"This was entirely inappropriate given the demolition work was taking place next to a busy dual carriageway on a weekday morning. It's only luck that no one was seriously injured."
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