A COUNCIL has been fined £40,000 after a worker’s leg was crushed by a bin wagon.

Burnley Magistrates’ Court heard how Pendle Council refuse collector Dominic Allen was struck by the vehicle while at work in Nelson on October 30, 2015.

Mr Allen suffered life-changing crush injuries which meant he had to have his lower right leg amputated.

Council leader Paul White said that the local authority 'bitterly regretted' what had happened.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the local authority had neglected to properly identify the well-known hazards posed by waste collection operations.

The court heard that at the time of the incident, three waste collection vehicles were in the immediate vicinity.

READ MORE: Blackburn with Darwen mulling over move to 4 bins for every household

A spokesman for HSE said: “Consequently, the council had failed to devise safe working methods and provide the necessary information and training to their workers to prevent harm arising.”

Pendle Council pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act during the hearing in Parker Lane, Burnley. Total fines of £40,000 were imposed with costs of £14,000.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Leona Cameron said: “Pendle Council did not do enough to protect people from the dangers presented by refuse collection vehicles.

“If the risks had been properly identified and a suitable system of work had been in place prior to the incident, the life-changing injuries sustained by Mr Allen could have been prevented.”

Pendle Council said there had been no previous incidents of this nature and that it had an excellent health and safety record.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Cllr White said: “We’ve endeavoured to provide support to our employee throughout this process.

“The health and safety of our staff is something that is very important to me and to the council and I ensured a review was under way as soon as it was brought to my attention.

“We’ve reviewed all of our training arrangements and risk assessments and complied with the HSE’s recommendations at the earliest opportunity.”

READ MORE: 2 binmen suspended after reversing lorry into man crossing road

The local authority has also said it recently invited the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents to carry out a full independent review of its waste collection service.

Cllr White added: “We’re implementing the detailed recommendations of the review and have further increased our staffing resource for dealing with health and safety.”