A SECOND solicitor has been fined by a tribunal for failing to properly operate his firm's accounts.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal ordered Roger Allanson, who operated from offices in Chorley Old Road, Bolton, to pay a £17,000 fine plus £10,000 costs after finding he breached regulations, including allowing improper payments to be made out of the client account and allowing client money to be paid to be paid into the firm's account.

The tribunal stated it was "objectionable" that Mr Allanson allowed the client account to be used to administer payments. "It is no part of a solicitor's practice to provide a banking facility," the judgement said.

However, the tribunal found that the rules breach "occurred through inadvertence and was not due attributable to an improper motive". No loss was caused to clients.

Solicitor fined £10k by disciplinary tribunal

His partner, Mohamed Patel, faced similar allegations and was fined £10,000 plus £7,500 in costs.