The 23 offences were committed in April 2006 by William Thompson and were identified on routine inspection by trading standards officers from Blackburn with Darwen borough council.

Thompson was in court on September 15 and was fined a total of £1,200 for six offences. A further 17 offences were taken into consideration and he was ordered to pay a contribution towards costs of £1,000.

"We view prosecution as a last resort, only to be used where other methods such as advice and warnings have not worked," councilor Dave Hollings, executive member for customer relations at the council told freshinfo.

Thompson took trading standards officers to a local supermarket to show them similar labelling errors, but the council’s response was that these were not on as large a scale as his own offences and were dealt with by means of advice to the store which proved effective.

Thompson’s defence team alleged the council was making a profit from the hefty costs applied to its client, but Hollings denied this.

“ The costs applied for reflect the amount of detailed legal work which had to be completed in this case,” said the councilor.

"Some mistakes were made, the same as all the big supermarkets make, and I have to accept that," Thompson told the local press. "But there was no intention to short-measure anyone, quite the opposite in fact.

"One of the charges was about a bag of bean sprouts and that cost me a £200 fine. The bag contained four cartons of bean sprouts which normally sell for 99p each and I sold the bag for 99p. The problem was that it was not labelled correctly."

Thompson,’s shop William Thompson & Son is in Market Way in the Mall, Blackburn. Andrew Church-Taylor, defending, said the company had been founded by Thompson's grandfather and had operated in Blackburn for more than 100 years.

"If it was not a reputable business or if it operated to dupe the customer, it would not have lasted that long," said Mr Church-Taylor. "It is a small business that operates within a minefield of regulations."

"Even large organisations with all their resources can get it wrong. Some of the items weighed by trading standards were actually heavier than advertised. The customer was getting more than they bargained for."

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