A drainage company has been fined £60,000 after a worker was seriously injured when an excavation collapsed while pipes were being laid outside a home in Bridge.

Michael Simpkins suffered multiple fractures to his left leg during the incident which happened in Conyngham Lane.

Folkestone magistrates heard how he was cutting and cleaning a pipe for rejoining in a two-metre deep pit when the sidewall gave way.

The lower half of his body was completely buried, with the weight of the soil buckling his leg as it crashed down. He was dug out by a colleague and taken to hospital.

He was working for The UK Drainage Network Ltd, which is now called UWIC Realisations Ltd and in administration.

“I hope this prosecution serves as a reminder to all companies who engage in excavation work that adequate shoring is required at all times" - Nicola Wellard

It was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive after an investigation revealed the excavation was missing vital shoring up.

Mr Simpkins, now 42 and from Oxshott in Surrey, was unable to work for six weeks and later resigned due to recurring pain and psychological trauma.

Magistrates were told that in February 2011, just weeks before the Bridge collapse, HSE received a complaint about another UKDN excavation that suffered a partial collapse.

Nobody was injured on that occasion, but HSE said it should have served as a warning that adequate shoring is required at all times.

Company representatives did not attend court but were found guilty of three separate health and safety breaches.

The court ordered the firm to pay a further £39,506 in prosecution costs.

After the hearing HSE Inspector Nicola Wellard said: “I hope this prosecution serves as a reminder to all companies who engage in excavation work that adequate shoring is required at all times, irrespective of the size of the dig.”