A local authority has been fined £10,000 after a decorator suffered serious injuries in a fall.

The workman was an employee of West Lothian Council when the incident happened in July 2013.

He was painting window frames at a property in Bathgate when the ladder he was using slid away from the wall and he fell 13ft to the ground.

The man's left leg was badly hurt in the fall, which left his knee fractured in eight places.

At Livingston Sheriff Court on Tuesday, the council pleaded guilty to a single charge under the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

The court was told an alloy tower or podium steps should have been used given the level of risk involved and the duration for which employees were expected to use the equipment.

Ladder mates, designed to stop the ladder slipping, and a limpet device to prevent sideways movement had also not been supplied.

Laura Buchan, head of the Crown Office's health and safety division, said the incident could have been prevented if such measures had been put in place.

"Falls from height are one of the greatest single causes of death and serious injury to workers within the construction industry," she added.

West Lothian Council accepts it failed to properly plan and supervise the work.

The authority said it has completely overhauled its system for working at height since the incident.