A TEENAGER was crushed when a quarrying machine he was maintaining was switched on while he was inside, a court heard yesterday.

Anthony Hodgson, from Weardale, County Durham, suffered a fractured vertebrae when he became trapped in a crusher used to break up rocks, in February last year.

Yesterday, Ward Brothers, a plant hire firm in Langley Moor, County Durham, were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive at Derwentside Magistrates' Court, Consett, for failing to ensure Mr Hodgson's safety.

The company was also prosecuted for allowing Mr Hodgson, from Westgate, to operate a forklift truck without the correct training.

Jonathan Pickering, on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive, said Mr Hodgson had been working on the crusher under supervision, but his supervisor had gone to take a phone call. In the meantime, the firm's managing director told him the machinery needed greasing.

Mr Hodgson climbed inside to carry out the work and his supervisor returned and - not knowing Mr Hodgson was inside - switched the machinery back on.

Mr Pickering told the court: "Clearly, he shouted and the supervisor switched the machine off quickly, but it was sufficient time to cause a back injury."

Mr Pickering said there was some dispute over whether the managing director was suggesting he carried the work out immediately, or at a later date. But he said some form of safety device could have prevented the accident.

Mr Hodgson, who was 18 at the time of the accident, needed surgery to correct the injury and is now believed to be unemployed.

Charles McKane, defending, said the company took health and safety very seriously, and the supervisor would have prevented the accident if he had not been called to the telephone.

The company was fined £2,000 for failing to ensure its employees' safety and £500 for allowing him to operate a forklift truck without training between April 1999, when he started work, and March last year.

The firm was ordered to pay £1,088 costs.