A window cleaner who became a YouTube hit when he was filmed balancing on a third-floor ledge with no safety harness has been ordered to pay £2,000 for health and safety breaches.
Fearless Wayne Mallon was caught on camera as he calmly climbed out of a top-floor window to carry out his work 40ft above the pavement.
Passers-by watched in horror as he stepped onto the outside of a stone balustrade before walking around the building.
A later clip showed him doing the same thing on the level below, but this time walking along the top of the narrow windows – again without any kind of safety equipment.
Self-employed Mallon, who works for Terry Mallon and Sons Cleaning Services, pleaded guilty to three health and safety charges at Bath Magistrates Court in Somerset.
The 40-year-old was fined £400 for each of the offences and ordered to pay £800 in costs, as well as a £15 victim surcharge, bringing the total to £2,015.
Mallon, of Whiteway, Bath, took to the windowsills above the Loch Fyne restaurant in Bath in September last year.
It was filmed by a passing pedestrian and went viral on YouTube, attracting nearly 90,000 views to date.
But the clip came to the attention of the health and safety team at Bath and North East Somerset Council, which brought charges against Mallon and Loch Fyne.
The restaurant chain faces six breaches of health and safety regulations, which will be dealt with this Friday.
A spokesman from B&NES Council said: “The council, in common with the window cleaning industry, takes these issues seriously because of the dangers to the public and workers.
“Whilst working in this manner, Mr Mallon was putting not only his own safety at risk but also that of members of the public who were passing on the busy pavement below.
“The council hopes that the fine and court costs of £2,000 incurred by Mr Mallon will deter businesses from putting themselves, other workers and members of the public at risk.”
He added: “Falls from height remain the most common cause of workplace fatality.
“The council wishes to remind all businesses carrying out these activities that they must, for their own and other’s safety, familiarise themselves with legal requirements which in this case would have assured Mr Mallon’s safety.”
