Fleetwith Pike, site of the via ferrata

Bosses of a controversial mountain tourist attraction face a bill of more than £28,000 after installing an unauthorised extension.

The via ferrata on the side of Fleetwith Pike at the head of Borrowdale in the Lake District opened in 2007, allowing non-climbers a taste of adventure on the fixed rungs and cables over the crags.

But operators Honister Slate Mine, whose owner Mark Weir died when he crashed his helicopter close by in March, extended the route and added a zip wire without consent. The company submitted a retrospective planning application but then withdrew it.

West Cumbria Magistrates ordered Honister Slate Mine to pay a fine of £15,000 and costs of £13,190 costs plus a £15 surcharge. The court heard the extension to the route, modelled on similar installations in the European Alps which allow climbers to use a lanyard as protection as they climb the fixed steps, rungs and bridges across routes that only rock-climbers can usually access, had damaged a site of special scientific interest.

The late Mark Weir with Jan Wilkinson

The court warned that continued use of the extension would be unlawful, but did not impose a restoration order, saying the company should work with Natural England and the Lake District National Park Authority to resolve the situation.

The late Mr Weir’s partner Jan Wilkinson described the fine as ‘on the high side’.