A failure by car giant Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to guard a piece of machinery led to an electrician suffering life-threatening injuries.

It took 40 minutes to release Colin Downes, who was dragged along a conveyor belt and crushed, Birmingham Crown Court heard.

Jaguar Land Rover had previously admitted a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £40,000 with £13,474 costs.

Ben Mills, prosecuting, said the accident occurred on June 14 last year in the paint shop area of Land Rover's Lode Lane plant, in Solihull.

He said Mr Downes was a maintenance electrician whose job involved repairing break downs and equipment.

He was working the night shift and at around 2am got a call that something had gone wrong with the process, which was a regular occurrence.

Mr Mills said the electrician used software to get the conveyor working again but then moved to an area near the conveyor, marked with yellow hatched warning lines, where he tried to identify where he thought the problem had arisen.

"There was no physical barrier or other protection to stop people coming into contact with that conveyor system," he told the court.

Mr Mills said Mr Downes was then struck by a metal dolly which pushed him through a small aperture.

He was later found by a colleague lying on his back with his feet sticking out of the aperture.

The 57-year-old man indicated he had chest pains but was unable to speak throughout the incident and had difficulty breathing.

"Emergency services were called and it took 40 minutes to get Mr Downes out because of the pain and awkwardness of where he was."

Mr Mills said: "He suffered serious, extensive and life threatening injuries."

They included a broken sternum, ten broken ribs, two punctured lungs, blood clots to his heart and kidneys and broken bones in his right hand.

"The accident occurred as a result of the defendant (JLR) failing to take sufficient measures, a simple physical barrier that would stop an employee coming into contact with that dangerous machinery," he said.

Mark Balysz, defending, said that the paint shop, which had previously had an exemplary health and safety record, was the most complex area of the entire site, with 26 kilometres of conveyor belts.

He said the incident happened at a "blind spot" despite all the best efforts.