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.

Langdyke-based 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.