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Birmingham-based Ark Brothers Limited has been fined £1,500 and must pay £35,000 court costs after an employee was crushed to death. David Hunt, from Dudley, was killed when a crane's jig and load fell on him.

Hunt, 49, was moving 500kg of metal components using a travelling crane when both the crane’s jig and the load it was holding, weighing about 1.3 tonnes in total, fell directly onto him.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the lifting machinery that Hunt had been using was unsuitable for the work and "poorly maintained", so prosecuted his employer, Ark Brothers Limited of Birmingham.

The HSE said it also found there was some wire wrapped round safety catches on the crane, suggesting the company did not always engage properly and additional measures had been needed.

At the time of the incident the business was trading as Arkinstall Galvanising Ltd and the incident happened at its Ebro Works in Dudley Road, Tividale.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard Hunt, who had worked at the company for more than two decades - as had his father before him, was moving the metal components on 16 January 2008 when the incident occurred.

HSE inspector Judith Lloyd said: "Mr Hunt's tragic death was completely avoidable and resulted directly from an unsafe system of work.

“There were significant problems with the hooks on the crane and Ark Brothers ignored warnings as to their condition over several months, and no lessons were learnt from previous incidents.”