THE victim of a blast at a power plant which led to him losing his leg has said he is determined to get his life back – as one of the companies responsible was hit with a £1.35m fine.

Dennis Chadwick was seriously injured following a “catastrophic” fault as a pressure check was carried out on the Wilton 10 power plant boiler in Teesside in December 2013.

At Teesside Crown Court, Judge Hickey fined Wilton 10 operator Sembcorp UK £1.35m, Mr Chadwick’s employers, Darlington firm R&A Kay £37,500 and subcontractors CIS, of Stockton, £120,000.

Last night he said: “It has been nearly four years since I was injured. My life changed that day and the impact on my family and me has been immense. In July, I had my leg amputated from the knee down and I will now have to learn to walk with a prosthetic but I am determined to get my life back.”

A disc designed to relieve pressure in the test rig failed, causing a blast which sent a piece of metal into the inspecting engineer’s leg.

Since the accident, Mr Chadwick has had dozens of operations and painful treatment as surgeons battled to save his leg by elongating his bones.

But in July they took the decision that his leg would have to be amputated below the knee.

All three companies pleaded guilty to charges of failing to ensure Mr Chadwick’s health and safety, and that of six other employees, during a boiler test, in a case brought to court by the Health and Safety Executive.

The sentencing, at Teesside Crown Court, heard that Sembcorp had a previously unblemished safety record.

On the day of the blast, seven workers had been standing close to a rig testing the boiler when a disc, set to relieve pressure within the rig, which had been set to the wrong level, burst, sending a piece of metal flying into Mr Chadwick’s leg.

Judge Hickey criticised the fact there was no exclusion zone around the test rig, and said: “When the equipment failed, every one of the seven were exposed to serious injury or death.”

Sembcorp hired CIS to carry out the pressure testing, under the instruction of engineers from Sembcorp itself, although CIS is an industrial cleaning company and its employees admitted they had not been properly trained in pressure testing.

Mr Chadwick worked for R&A Kay, who in turn should have checked conditions were safe for him, Judge Hickey said.