A judge has dismissed a case against a farm shop business situated between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge which was accused of health and safety failings.

Paul Palmer, 49, the former director of Mackenzies Smoked Products at Blubberhouses, appeared at York Crown Court yesterday (Thursday, November 21) when his legal team argued that the case against the businessman and the company should be dismissed.

It had been alleged that the business at Wood Nook Farm exposed staff to unsafe sewage storage systems and that there were not enough safety checks in place.

The prosecution case against Mr Palmer and the company was brought by North Yorkshire Council, but defence barrister Sarah Barlow, acting for Mr Palmer and the company, argued that because the business was a food production or manufacturing facility, the local authority had “no jurisdiction” to prosecute the case.

The prosecution had alleged that between November 2021 and December 2022, sufficient safety checks were not in place to ensure that the lid of an effluent tank on the site was properly secured for employees.

Judge Simon Hickey ruled that the case could only be prosecuted by the Health & Safety Executive rather than North Yorkshire Council and dismissed the prosecution case.

The Mackenzies business went into voluntary liquidation last year, owing more than £1 million.

Mackenzies runs a farm shop and cafe, both of which remain open. The café serves locally sourced products including meat, fruit and vegetables. There is also an on-site smokehouse which sells smoked meats.

Mr Palmer, of Wreaks Road, Birstwith, and the company, which has headquarters based in Aberford Road, Leeds, first appeared in court in July accused of “failing to conduct a suitable and sufficient…assessment of the risks to persons not in their employment…in that they failed to assess the risk posed by the lid of an effluent tank on their premises”.

The Mackenzies Farm Shop has reportedly been under new management since November 2023, as reported here.