A contractor and its director have been fined after inspectors found there was no sink, hot water or a flushable toilet at a construction site in Belsize Park.

East Sussex firm ID8 Design and Build Ltd was in charge of the refurbishment of a two-storey flat into a converted house in Carlingford Road, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said.

The site was visited by HSE inspectors on November 29, 2021, who found that it breached construction regulations.

According to HSE, the toilet provided was not flushable and was in a room without a door or window coverings.

There was also no sink, no hot water, no soap and no towels, they added.

Cold water was only available from a pipe in the room next to the toilet and no rest area had been set up by the company.

Following the inspection, HSE issued an improvement notice to ID8 Design and Build Ltd to establish suitable facilities at the site.

But a second inspection by the health and safety watchdog on January 5, 2022 found that the necessary improvements had not been made.

On February 15 this year at Westminster Magistrates' Court, ID8 Design and Build Ltd, of Blatchington Road, Hove, was fined having pleaded guilty on January 18 to breaching health and safety regulations.

The company was ordered to pay a £1,334 fine as well as costs of £1,748.

On the same day, company director Adeel Bhatti, also of Blatchington Road, was fined £416 for breaching the same regulations having also pleaded guilty. He was ordered to pay costs totalling £1,622.07.

HSE inspector Emma Bitz said: “Providing suitable and sufficient toilets is an absolute duty and there is no exception to them being provided or made available. The reality is that many of the smaller sites we inspect don’t have basic facilities at all.

“Inspectors will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against employers who fail to comply with an improvement notice.  Welfare is a fundamental and basic necessity for workers. It is also required by law.”