A DIY chain has paid out £200,000 in damages after
three Legionnaires' Disease fatalities caused by one of its stores' hot tubs.
Richard Griffin, William Hammersley and Harry Cadman all died in 2012 after contracting the disease at JTF Warehouse's Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent branch.
A Health Protection Agency (HPA) report concluded that a hot tub on display in the store's showroom was the probable source.
The report found that the hot tub had not been filtered or cleaned for weeks and that the water had stagnated, leading to the formation of bacteria. It is thought particles of Legionnaires' Disease then became airborne and spread around the store.
Driver Mr Griffin died from multiple organ failure after making a delivery to the store. The two other victims, Mr Hammersley and Mr Cadman, were customers. Eighteen other people needed hospital treatment.
JTF, which has 13 branches, admitted civil liability for causing the outbreak of the lung disease, and several claims for compensation were settled out of court. But the families of the three men who died and one of the survivors hired law firm Irwin Mitchell to issue formal court proceedings against JTF.
The DIY business has now been told to pay over £200,000 to the relatives of the three men who died.
Irwin Mitchell's Amandeep Dhillon said: "There are strict controls in place which are designed to reduce the risk of Legionella contamination in public spaces, but sadly all of those who contracted this dreadful condition were badly let down by JTF Wholesale on this occasion.
"It's important that lessons are learned from this incident to ensure that the risk of any similar outbreak in the future is reduced."
Inquests into the deaths will be held later this year and criminal charges may yet be brought against JTF.