ONLINE computer company Dabs.com has been fined £8,000 by magistrates for failing to comply with regulations designed to cut the amount of packaging material that goes to waste.

The company, based at Wingates Industrial Park in Westhoughton, pleaded guilty to eight offences under the Producer Responsibility Regulations 1997. As well as being fined, the company was ordered to pay £759.56 costs to the Environment Agency, which brought the prosecution.

David Bradley, prosecuting, told Bolton Magistrates Court that Dabs.com, which has an annual turnover of more than £100 million, had saved up to £4,328 by not complying with the regulations between 1997 and 2000.

The regulations implement a European Directive which sets targets for the recovery and recycling of packaging in an attempt to reduce the amount going to waste.

Companies handling significant amounts of packaging with a sufficient turnover must register with the Environment Agency and arrange to have certain amounts of packaging waste recycled.