A paving firm has been fined after admitting breaching health and safety rules.

Town and Country Paving of Angmering, was fined £10,000 by Horsham magistrates when it admitted four health and safety offences yesterday.

Magistrates had heard how a labourer was injured leaping off a fork lift truck as it plunged towards a railway embankment after the brakes failed.

The court was told how eight days later another labourer working for the same paving slab manufacturing company suffered a crushed finger when it became trapped in an unguarded cement mixer.

Russell Adfield, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive, said the offences occurred at the firm's Riverside Works premises in London Road, Pulborough.

The first incident, on July 20 last year, involved 23-year-old labourer Daniel Taylor who was moving pallets of paving slabs from the production shed to a stacking area above the railway line with a forklift truck.

As he neared the stacking area he braked and there was no response. The truck headed towards the 10ft railway embankment and Mr Taylor, believing it was about to plunge over the edge, threw himself off and rolled down the embankment.

He suffered broken ribs. The truck was prevented from falling after it hit a tree at the top of the embankment.

Mr Adfield said employees had complained to the former site manager about the brakes being deficient.

Eight days later, Andrew Palfreyman, 35, suffered a crushed right little finger in an unguarded cement mixing machine after coming into contact with "dangerous moving parts". The injury required surgery.

Company chairman Hilary Sherwin-Snell said it viewed the offences as very serious. The geography of the site, next to a railway line, meant there was an increased risk to employees and the public.

The firm, based at Shrubland Nurseries, Roundstone Lane, Angmering, admitted failing to ensure braking performance of the fork lift truck was maintained in an efficient state, and failing to ensure effective measures were taken to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery. It also pleaded guilty to two offences of failing to notify the Health and Safety Executive of a major injury.

Matthew Bagnall, defending, said the company had no previous health and safety convictions in its 18-year history. Since the two incidents it had undertaken an overhaul of health and safety issues on all its three sites.

Mr Bagnall said the company had not been aware of the criteria under which accidents were required to be reported. It was not a case of trying to cover something up.

The firm was also ordered to pay £2,826 costs.