A BUILDING firm has been fined £15,000 after a worker suffered a broken neck when a concrete block plummeted 30ft on to his head.

Agency engineer Jack McCann was rushed to hospital after being struck at the new development being built at Ocean Village, Southampton.

Health and safety chiefs said the 61-year-old, from Highfield, would probably have been left in a wheelchair if he had not been wearing a safety helmet.

Mr McCann was hospitalised for two weeks after the accident on May 30. He suffered two fractured vertebrae in his neck. He is still receiving treatment and has been unable to return to work.

Southampton Magistrates' Court was told that Mr McCann was working on a lower level of a new block when the slab, which was about 18 inches long, fell from four storeys above him.

Health and Safety Executive prosecutors said in a written statement at court: "Insufficient precautions were implemented for a hazardous operation which had been undertaken previously on lower floors of the block."

Wilson Bowden Developments, which is the main contractor at the multi-million pound redevelopment of Ocean Village, pleaded guilty to a charge of breaching health and safety regulations. It was also ordered to pay £1,128 costs.

Mr McCann is now pursuing a civil action against the firm.