A company has been fined £120,000 after an employee was left with serious injuries when drainage pipes fell on top of him.

Wincanton Group Limited, a haulage company, was prosecuted by Braintree Council following the incident in 2015.

A driver was left with facial injuries and a broken nose and arm when the 3m long pipes fell onto him at a site in Braintree.

The driver was unstrapping the pipes when they fell, causing him to fall.

At Chelmsford Crown Court last Thursday, the company admitted failing to comply with the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £120,000 and will pay costs of £29,540.

A spokesman for Wincanton said: “We were saddened by this accident. As a company we work incredibly hard to protect our people, our customers and the general public at all times.

“We have ensured the learnings from this case in 2015 have been applied across our business and health and safety continues to be our number one priority.

“We accept the penalty that has been imposed but are pleased the judge recognised the company has a positive and proactive safety culture and is a responsible and considerate employer.”

An investigation found the company had not put in place suitable load plans for this type of product and there were inadequacies in its risk assessments, safe systems of work, supervision, monitoring and training.

Councillor and deputy leader of Braintree Council Wendy Schmitt said: “This was a shocking breach of workplace health and safety law which resulted in an employee being left with nasty injuries.

“I hope this prosecution sends out a message to other businesses that there are serious consequences if health and safety laws are breached and Braintree Council will deal with these robustly.”