COMPLAINTS about a Twister blender supplied by Philips led to the company being fined £1,500 with £18,500 costs by magistrates at Evesham on Monday.

The company, Philips Electronics UK Ltd, of The Philips Centre, London Road, Croydon, pleaded guilty to supplying an appliance that was unsafe during January 2000 and was also ordered to pay £250 compensation to a woman scalded by the blender.

Barry Berlin, prosecuting for Worcestershire Trading Standards Office (TSO), said the company, one of 10 subsidiaries of the parent company, imported the machines, made in Brazil, from Holland and 51,400 were supplied in the UK between late 1998 and March 2000.

There were six complaints to Worcestershire TSO, which sparked off the investigation, but the company continued to distribute the machines on the basis of waiting to see what happened which Mr Berlin described as "a cavalier approach to public safety."

He explained the case before the court concerned a complaint from Yvonne Fraser, of Bolton, who scalded her hands when soup spilled out.

It was found possible to release the jug from the base, revealing the cutting blades.

"It was not user error," he said. "Quite plainly various members of the public have used this product and found exactly the same problem."

Barry Cotter, for Philips, said the company had a 54-year problem-free record and the case had caused a great deal of anxiety.

"I can't stress highly enough how seriously this matter has been taken," he said.

Mr Cotter said after tests following the complaints, the design was changed to include a fixing pin to prevent the jug and bottom becoming detached and he pointed out that the company was a distributor, not manufacturer, of the product and relied on safety certificates from other companies.