A worker is lucky to be alive after he was hit by a fire ball in an electrical explosion a court heard.

Electrolux Household Appliances Ltd were fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £1,028 costs after directors admitted three charges relating to safety negligence.

Dr David Shallow from the Health and Safety Executive said that 21-year-old trainee electrician Raymond Lee, from Ferryhill, had been lucky to escape the explosion without serious injuries.

He said: "A very large current surged towards him, about 40,000 amps. The heat was so intense that it vaporised the cable and the end of his screwdriver.''

Dr Shallow told Bishop Auckland Magistrates that Mr Lee had been asked to replace a single socket with a double socket.

The socket was on the side of an electrical distribution panel that provided the electric for the factory paint stores.

He said that the isolation handle had been defeated so that it meant that Mr Lee was working with a live connection.

Dr Shallow said that Mr Lee had done everything correctly but a screw had fallen from the socket and shorted the system causing the explosion.

Mr Lee was hit on the hand by the fireball and suffered flash burns to his hands keeping him off work for two weeks. He still works for the company in Spennymoor.

Simon Catterall on behalf of the company said that it had taken the accident very seriously. He said the accident was reported immediately and the firm had co-operated fully with the HSE.

He said: "This company has been on that plant for 50 years and this is the first time that it has faced prosecution. It has spent £50,000 on a very comprehensive risk assessment and we are very sorry to be here today.''