A York-based construction company has today been fined £20,000 after one of its mobile elevating work platforms overturned, seriously injuring a worker and putting the public at risk.

Shepherd Construction Limited of Jockey Lane, Huntington, York, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 for its role in the incident at the Trinity Square construction site in central Nottingham.

Today at Nottingham Magistrates' Court the company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £6,900 costs.

The court heard how on 30 August 2007 a contractor on the site drove a cherry picker over a concealed man hole cover.

The cover gave way under the weight of the machine and the cherry picker toppled over, leaving its driver with serious injuries to his skull, back and legs.

The long reaching arm of the machine crashed to the ground, landing in a busy area that had been occupied by pedestrians and vehicles only seconds before. Following the incident, Milton Street in central Nottingham was blocked off for almost six hours.

Source: HSE