A CONSTRUCTION company has been fined more than £5,000 after a worker was injured when about 100 bricks fell on his head from a scaffolding tower.

Durham Magistrates' Court heard that sub-contractor Michael Mawdsley suffered serious shoulder and back injuries in the accident and was off work for ten weeks.

However, his hard hat saved him from more serious injuries during the accident in June last year.

Michael Brown, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive, told yesterday's hearing that the 15ft scaffolding tower on the Meadow View housing development at Wheatley Hill, County Dur-ham, had not been checked by a qualified person and had not been fitted with a brick guard.

Seaham construction company Redwood Homes North-East, which had been in existence for only seven months at the time of the accident, admitted two breaches of Health and Safety legislation and was fined a total of £5,400, with £1,034 costs.

The company accepted that its site manager was not trained to inspect the scaffolding, which had been installed by a sub-contractor.

Mr Brown told the court: "Simple, low-cost measures would have protected Mr Mawdsley. Had the front edge of the loading bay been adequately constructed and inspected, Mr Mawdsley would not have suffered injuries."

Tom Nossiter, mitigating, said the company had co-operated fully.

He added: "The defendants accept the ultimate responsibility lies with them, but they employed contractors to erect the scaffold and, in a sense, rely on their expertise."