A construction company and its managing director have been prosecuted after displaying a "shocking disregard" for workers’ safety.

Daniel Lautier and his firm, ICG Construction Management Services Ltd, both of Sevenoaks, were ordered to pay more than £4,000 at a hearing yesterday after pleading guilty to numerous safety breaches.

Redhill Magistrates' Court heard how a Health and Safety Executive inspector visited the Surrey demolition site in June and immediately put a stop to demolition work after noting that staff were exposed to risks of falling from an unprotected roof and from the presence asbestos.

The failings on the site in Chobham Road, Woking were spotted by the eagle-eyed HSE inspector as he drove past.

Three workers were seen standing on the edge of the roof of a seven metre two-storey, part-demolished house despite no safety measures being in place.

Roof tiles and masonry had also been thrown from the structure as it was being demolished.

Lautier of Harrison Way, Sevenoaks, admitted two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the company pleaded guilty to one breach of the Act and a further breach of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

"The disregard for health and safety shown was shocking, and exposed workers and others to appalling risks..." - HSE inspector Russell Beckett

Lautier was fined a total of £3,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,044. No separate penalty was imposed for his company.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Russell Beckett, who investigated, said: "The disregard for health and safety shown was shocking, and exposed workers and others to appalling risks.

"The management of health and safety was non-existent even at the most basic level.

"There were so many failures on site. Many were obvious but all contributed to making the site one of most inadequate and unprofessional I have ever seen.

"Demolition of a property requires planning and that includes a survey to establish whether asbestos is present.

"The demolition industry has vastly improved its health and safety record but Mr Lautier decided to cut corners and to try to do it himself.

"If this demolition had been simply carried out using an excavator machine then there would have been very few risks involved."