A worker was buried alive when a trench collapsed, leaving him seriously injured.

Julian Kilbane survived the accident when colleagues dug him out from under tonnes of soil which had fallen, burying him and leaving only the very top of his head exposed.

Wallace Roofing and Building Ltd has been fined £14,000 over the incident, which left Mr Kilbane, 43, in intensive care for six days with punctured lungs and all but two of his ribs broken.

Fiscal depute Lynn Jamieson told Dundee Sheriff Court Mr Kilbane was working to connect drains on an extension at Millfield House in Falkland, Fife, to a sewer when the incident occurred in September 2011.

He was standing in a trench around 9ft deep by 5ft wide when they came across a large rock blocking their path.

Mr Kilbane asked another worker to use an excavator to loosen it and clear the path but when he did one wall of the trench collapsed.

Ms Jamieson said: "This buried Mr Kilbane to the extent that only the top of his head could be seen above the soil.

"The other workers heard a loud bang and immediately went to investigate and assisted in trying to dig Mr Kilbane out.

"They started digging the soil away from his head to allow him to breathe. He remained partially buried in the trench until the emergency services arrived."

She added: "Mr Kilbane spent six days in intensive care followed by five days in the high dependency unit and four days on a ward.

"He sustained a broken shoulder and collarbone, both lungs were punctured and suffered multiple fractures to his ribs - all bar two of them. He may require an operation in the future if the pain becomes intolerable.

"He has been advised he has scar tissue on his lungs from his broken ribs which causes him to get breathless when he walks for several minutes.

"He has been told this will not improve and he has the lungs of someone 30 years older than him."

She said Mr Kilbane had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the incident.

The fiscal depute continued: "It was foreseeable that an unsupported trench wall would collapse.

"The trench walls were up to 9ft deep and there was no attempt to support, batter or step the walls.

"It was foreseeable that the weight of the soil surrounding an unsupported trench, together with the weight of the excavator itself, could put pressure on the soil round the trench and cause it to collapse on to someone working in the trench."

Ms Jamieson said an investigation found that while the company was experienced in the building industry no one had received any formal health and safety training for managing a construction site.

None of the company's employees were familiar with making risk assessments.

The court was told the company's directors have now taken courses and training in health and safety, and pledged not to undertake work in deep excavations in the future.

Wallace Roofing and Building Ltd, based at Milldeans in Fife, pleaded guilty on indictment to a charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act of failing to provide sufficient training to staff, failing to maintain a safe system of work and failing to make a suitable risk assessment as a result of which a trench collapsed trapping Mr Kilbane and causing him severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment.

Sheriff Alastair Carmichael fined the firm £14,000.