A FAMILY has been ordered to pay nearly £3,000 in legal costs after their claim for compensation over an accident on a dry ski slope failed.

The parents of a 16-year-old from Bolton, who has not been named, had claimed that he had been tripped by loose metal ties at Ski Rossendale in Lancashire.

But they were ordered to pay £2,737 in costs when their civil claim failed at Bolton County Court.

And bosses at Rossendale Council, which runs the ski slope, warned people against making unsubstantiated compensation claims.

Council leader Graham Pearson said new risk assessment procedures had proved crucial in the case.

During the case, the teenage snowboarder told Bolton County Court that loose metal ties that bind the "snow" mats had tripped him, and he needed seven stitches to his leg.

But the deputy district judge accepted that Rossendale Council's daily safety checks were adequate and that it was likely the boy had caught his toe edge and then his knee on the matting.

One of the teenager's witnesses said a metal tie was protruding at least two inches above the surface.

But the council's risk assessment showed that the ties were not that long and that none had been loose when checks were carried out on the same day.

The court also heard that the boy had not said anything about the incident to the slope's first aider.

Cllr Pearson said: "We defend claims vigorously. We are happy to pay out where we are at fault but we clearly were not at fault in this case.

"Our improved assessments and record keeping have paid off in that we were able to prove that the slope had been maintained safely."