A waste and recycling company has been fined £300,000 after a worker broke his arm and leg in an accident involving a shredder.

Countrystyle Recycling must also pay costs of £8,903 after pleading guilty to breaching health and safety regulations at Maidstone Magistrates Court.

The accident happened after a plant mechanic was repairing a shredder at its site in Ridham, near Sittingbourne, on October 7, 2013.

He was kneeling on a conveyor belt inside the machine when it restarted and fractured his right leg and left arm after he was thrown from it.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found the company did not have adequate systems in place to avoid such accidents.

It said the firm, based in Lenham, near Maidstone, had allowed unchallenged poor practice to become the norm.

A spokesman for Countrystyle said: "Following the submission of a guilty plea in this case, the company is surprised by the extent of the fine imposed which seems disproportionate to the circumstances of the offence and the actual harm suffered.

"Accordingly, the company is considering the possibility of an appeal with its legal advisers."