A labourer was left paralysed from the waist down after heavy pipe work fell onto him as he worked in a road trench, a court heard.

Mark Durrant was pinned down by the high pressure gas pipe which had dropped from a narrow piece of timber in Strood.

The wood measured 75mm wide and straddled the 1.38m deep trench. It rested on a small area of Tarmac either side, Maidstone Crown Court was told.

The pipe work comprised eight 12-metre sections of rigid plastic, each weighing 440kg.

One end had been lifted by an excavator and was propped on the timber across the trench where Mr Durrant was working.

Prosecutor Vivek D’Cruz said it dropped onto Mr Durrant’s back when the road surface on which the wood was balanced gave way under its sheer weight.

He needed eight hours of surgery to for two shattered lower vertebrae, a torn spinal cord and sac and two fractured ribs. He was left paralysed from the waist down.

Mr Durrant was one of three men laying gas pipes for Forefront Utilities Ltd in Commissioners Road on May 23 2014.

The company, based in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, was sub-contracted by Southern Gas Networks to lay a total of 1.5km of mains gas pipes.

Mr Durrant had carried similar work previously during his seven years employment.

Mr D’Cruz alleged the timber used was not designed for the purpose, having originally been part of material from delivery packing.

The practice, he said, was common within the company and went unchallenged when carried out in front of management.

Mr D’Cruz said Forefront Utilities failed in its duty to protect its employees from serious injury or death by not having a clearly defined safe system of work for joining the pipe work.

The workmen, he said, had simply adopted their own, unsafe method which created a clear and obvious risk as the slim piece of wood could not possibly support the considerable weight of the pipe.

“This dangerous procedure had occurred many times before the incident which resulted in such a serious injury to Mr Durrant and had gone unchallenged by anyone at Forefront Utilities.

“This wasn’t an isolated incident. It wasn’t just Mr Durrant and his team doing it. On some occasions this unsafe procedure was done in the sight of management from Forefront Utilities.”

The company denies failing to discharge its duty under Health and Safety laws.

The trial continues.