A COLLEGE has been fined for breaching health and safety rules after a student's knee was broken during a tree-cutting lesson.

Collette Ross was doing rigging and dismantling practice with Plumpton College when a loose trunk rigged to the tree being cut thwacked her in the leg.

The college has now been fined £100,000 after pleading guilty to one count of breaching health and safety rules following the accident witnessed by a group of students last July 2.

Sentencing last week at Brighton Magistrates court, district judge Gary Lucie said the injury had caused the victim “significant problems - physical, emotional and financial".

Students were chopping the top off a tree at Churchwood Farm in Lewes Road, Polegate, during a Plumpton College 12-week tree cutting course.

But the rigging system designed to bring the top part of the tree down slowly and safely had been unsafely anchored to wood in the ground, which is thought to have spun around with the weight.

Prosecuting, Russell Beckett from the Health and Safety Executive said the college had not carried out a specific risk assessment for the work and the tutors doing it did not have the recognised industry qualification (NCPT) for specifically that kind of work.

He added: “This is a college that does train students to go out into the wider world in an extremely hazardous industry.

"It was fundamental they are taught the proper way to do this type of work and stop and think what they are doing before they charge in and chop down trees.”

Mitigating for the college, Ron Ruston said no risk assessment had been done because that activity was not normally part of the course, but had been an impromptu decision based on a student’s suggestion over lunch. This was not accepted by judge Lucie.

Mr Ruston added the tutors doing the work were very experienced, and the college had since spent more than £200,000 trying to make sure everything was done safely and correctly, including putting in new tiers of management.

Head of department Paul Collins, who was not present when the accident happened, also pleaded guilty to one count of breaching health and safety rules, and was fined £1,000.

Mitigating for Mr Collins, Justin McClintock said he had been going through extremely difficult personal circumstances at the time and had since lost the job "he was proud of".

It is understood Ms Ross has since recovered. No other students were injured.

Plumpton College said it was committed to the safety of its students, staff and visitors and that, since the accident, improvements had been made.

A Plumpton College spokesman said: “This work highlighted that the key factors contributing to the accident were attributable to a small team of people who failed to follow college safety procedures and that their actions in no way reflect the strong safety culture present within the college.”

He added: “Our main concern from the outset has been the welfare of this student and we hope to be able to continue to support her ambition to work in the arboriculture sector.”