Panther fields best option for cleaning at Lords

The Media Centre at Lord's Cricket Ground in London has been given a thorough clean with the help of a 24m (80ft) boom rented from Panther (part of the Lavendon Group) in time for England to take on Sri Lanka and India in Test Matches this summer.

The essential maintenance work was carried out over two weeks in March by Pendennis Shipyard, in Falmouth, the company which constructed the building in 1999.

Nick Haywood, the shipyard's marketing manager, said they had considered a range of options for carrying out the work - and using powered access was clearly the best.

He said, "Using a Panther powered access boom gave us the best price, allowed us to complete the job in the shortest time, with least disturbance and met all the latest health and safety requirements. It worked very well.

"We obtained three scaffolding quotes and all were much more expensive than powered access. I understand the job has been done through abseiling on ropes in the past but this has now been ruled out due to health and safety considerations."

Ian Mitchell, Depot Manager at Panther Luton, said, "We're very pleased the project went so well.

"Booms of this kind are excellent for getting up, around and over any shaped structure, and especially unusual ones like the Investec Lord's Media Centre, and they're clearly highly cost-effective."

The work involved cleaning the aluminium skin covering the media centre to protect the structure from the damaging effects of grime and pollutants. The windows are cleaned regularly using long poles.

Three Pendennis Shipyard staff carried out the work, one of them an experienced boom operator.

Mr Haywood said the next major task, some time in the future, will be to paint the structure, adding, "I am sure we will use powered access again then. It is clearly the most effective option for this work."