BRIDGE Garage at Marlborough is facing sentence for giving short measure to its customers on five of its pumps.

On Friday Zubair Dean, a director of Dean's Ltd and Bridge Garage (Marlborough) Ltd, appeared before Kennet magistrates at Devizes.

Both companies were charged with giving short measure at the London Road garage's fuel pumps.

Wiltshire Trading Standards had been expecting Dean, a director of both companies, to plead not guilty.

However, on behalf of both companies Dean entered guilty pleas to charges of giving short measure.

Bridge Garage also admitted trading without a Petroleum Spirit Licence. Deans Ltd admitted contravening a condition of the Petroleum Spirit Licence.

Defence lawyer Miss Davies told the court that Deans Ltd had ceased trading on June 30 last year and that Bridge Garage (Marlborough) Ltd took over the business. Dean was a director of both companies.

In respect of Bridge Garage (Marlborough) Ltd, Miss Davies told the magistrates: "What I can say is that Mr Dean has told me that the company is not solvent."

The breaches of the Weights and Measures Act were discovered when inspectors visited Bridge Garage in September, following complaints by two members of the public that they had received short measure.

Gary Lucie, prosecuting on behalf of Trading Standards, told the court that when inspectors made the spot check they discovered that Bridge Garage, which had a licence to store 50,000 litres of fuel, had 56,523 litres in the tanks. With the help of a fuel meter from a pump, Mr Lucie explained to the court that the amount of fuel delivered could be adjusted by means of a wheel.

All new pumps have to be calibrated by Trading Standards inspectors who then put wire seals with a lead stamp on the meters, Mr Lucie said. Once a seal was broken, it became an offence to continue to use that pump.

When the team of three inspectors visited Bridge Garage on September 6 they found six of the 25 pumps were marked Not In Use.

On five other pumps the inspectors found the wire seals had been broken and when the delivery volumes were checked they were found to be giving short measure.

Miss Davies said two offences of contravening petroleum spirit licences were purely technical because Deans Ltd, which was no longer trading, did have a licence. Dean had overlooked having the licence transferred from one company to the other.

Referring to the short measure charges, Miss Davies said Dean entrusted the day-to-day running of the garage to his staff.

"He accepts that under the statute he must take responsibility but he himself has done nothing to interfere with the pumps," said Miss Davies.

There was no evidence, she said, of who had tampered with the pumps. "Mr Dean had no reason to interfere with the pumps."

The magistrates heard that Deans Ltd had been prosecuted in February last year for using pumps that had not been passed as fit by inspectors and two of delivering short measure.

On that occasion the company was fined a total of £4,400 .

Sentence was adjourned to June 7 for Dean to produce his companies' accounts.