A bath restoration company has been fined more than £70,000 after a worker died from inhaling deadly toxic fumes while repairing a bathroom.

Colin Pocock, 55, was using an industrial paint remover to strip a bath at a flat in Eton Close, Earlsfield, on June 16, 2009, when he was overcome by choking fumes.

The stripping agent contained carcinogenic chemical dichloromethane, also known as methylene chloride, which caused the poisonous vapour to build up in the confined space and Mr Pocock died from overexposure.

His body was found slumped on the floor in a pool of vomit by mother-of-one Felicia Efole, 34, who had hired the workman to repair her bathroom.

On Thursday (May 23) Southwark Crown Court heard the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had investigated the death and found there was insufficient natural ventilation in the bathroom.

The court was told Mr Pocock’s employer, Multicrest Ltd, a franchisee of Renubath Services Ltd, should have provided ventilation equipment to counter the fumes.

HSE found written documentation from Multicrest, based in Station Road, Hampton, stating that work of this nature should only be done in well ventilated areas. Multicrest managers were also unaware of how such dangerous work should be done safely.

The firm was fined £25,000 and ordered to pay £56,286 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Speaking outside the court, HSE inspector Steve Kirton slammed Multicrest's approach saying Mr Pocock's health and safety relied on "pot luck".

He said: "This is a shocking death resulting from totally inadequate ventilation in the enclosed bathroom space in which Mr Pocock had to operate.

"The risks associated with stripping agents containing dichloromethane are well known, yet he was exposed to lethal fumes with virtually no protection.

"Mechanical ventilation equipment is often a necessity, but all he had to rely on was a small open window, a basic mask and pot luck.

"The use of substances that create toxic fumes must only be used where the fumes cannot build up and affect people, and the work must be properly planned and supervised - none of which happened on this occasion."

Renubath Services Ltd, now in liquidation, was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £21,202 in costs at Westminster Magistrates Court last year after also pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

More information about working safely with hazardous chemicals can be found online at www.hse.gov.uk/reach.