A new employee was injured on his first day at work at an Ellesmere quarry when his arm became trapped in a conveyor belt, a court heard.

The injured man needed multiple skin graft operations and he has been left with permanent scarring on his arm.

At a recent hearing at Telford magistrates court the quarry operator, Tudor Griffiths Ltd, was fined £44,000 in relation to the accident which happened more than two years ago.

The quarry firm, which had pleaded guilty to a breach of Health and Safety regulations, was also ordered to pay £2,866 in court costs.

Magistrates were told the incident happened on December 9, 2016, when the man's arm was caught in moving machinery.

He was dragged into the ‘nip point’ between the conveyor belt and rotating tail drum.

An investigation by the HSE found the company had failed to ensure that the fixed guards were effective to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery, despite this risk having been identified several months before the incident.

Tudor Griffiths, managing director of the business which also has a builders merchants in Oswestry, apologised for the incident.

“We fully acknowledge our company’s failings in this case and would like to express our regret that the incident occurred," he said. “We have previously had an unblemished health and safety record."

Mr Griffiths said since the incident additional voluntary improvements had been made to health and safety procedures at the quarry.

HSE inspector Simon Edwards said that the accident could have easily been prevented and the risk should have been identified.

“Entanglement in conveyor systems is a significant cause of serious incidents in the quarry industry," he said.

"Quarry operators should make sure they properly assess and apply effective control measures to minimise the risk from dangerous parts of machinery."