A TOP housing developer has been handed an £800,000 fine after a bricklayer's leg was crushed by a HGV lorry on a building site in Wokingham.

Crest Nicholson was accused of failing to ensure the safety of workers at their Kentwood Farm development in North Wokingham after David Cole, a bricklayer, was hit by a HGV lorry as it reversed in the building site in October 2014.

Mr Cole said life would "never be the same again" and was unable to work for nine months after the incident which he claims has left him in constant pain and his left leg 20mm shorter than his right.

At a sentencing in Reading Crown Court last Friday, Judge Kate Branner ruled there was 'considerable evidence' Crest Nicholson, who reported a £800m turnover last year, had not ensured processes outlined in the site management plan were followed.

Of Mr Cole, Judge Branner said: "All aspects of his life are affected, he says his life will never be the same again."

Mr Cole became trapped under the truck as it attempted a three-point turn at the building site, the driver, an experienced truck driver, had to reverse back up the access road after visiting the site office in order to make his delivery.

The court heard workers and pedestrians should have been told to stick to designated walkways, but this was not enforced and there were often gaps in the barriers.

Emmeline Lambert, prosecuting, said the vehicle had to reverse around 200 metres and added: "Crest Nicholson had a health and safety report six weeks before the crash, it found a number of barriers had been moved leaving gaps and the weather left the paths muddy encouraging the workforce to use the roads."

Defending Crest Nicholson, who admitted the charges, was Mark Alexandra Balysz who claimed the access road was more like a public highway than a building site and pedestrian barriers worked well in other sections of the building site.

He said: "The senior management greatly regrets the fact o this accident on 7th October and the fact of the injury suffered by Mr Cole.

"Efforts were taken to prevent the accident, however in this case they were not significant."

Summarising, Judge Branner said Crest Nicholson were a respected developer who undertook between 50 and 60 construction projects around the country each year and noted there had been only one other claim made against them in 2006.

The 274-home Kentwood Farm development, situated immediately south of the A329(M) was granted planning approval by Wokingham Borough Council in 2014.