A man accused of being in charge of a building site at the time of a serious accident had a "non-existent" knowledge of the construction industry, a court heard.

Shah Nawaz Pola, 35, is alleged to have overseen the building of a three-storey extension on a house he had bought in Allerton Road when a migrant worker sustained life-threatening injuries.

Pola is charged with breaching health and safety regulations and the trial at Bradford Crown Court was told today he had no experience of the building trade.

A building control officer with Bradford Council, Anthony Turner, told the jury about visits he had made to the site.

He said that on his first visit Pola was not present and the workers spoke very little English. When Pola was there he would ask his advice regarding certain regulations which made it clear that his knowledge of the construction industry was "non-existent", said Mr Turner.

He said: "I do believe that he didn't have a lot of construction knowledge. Sometimes we would explain things to him and he didn't seem to understand them and we would have to say them again."

Mr Turner said that it appeared that there was no-one on site who knew what they were doing.

But he added that he did not have concerns about conditions on the site and did not feel that it was necessary to report matters to the health and safety executive. "Everything seemed okay from a health and safety point of view," he told the jury.

Mr Turner said that he had asked Pola if he could take some photographs of some of the work which he claimed was sub-standard but he had been refused permission.

Another building control officer, Carl Potts, also told the court that he did not have concerns about the site in 14 visits he had made before the accident in November 2005. "There was nothing wrong on a major scale," Mr Potts said.

The trial has been told that a Slovakian worker, Dusan Dudi, had been demolishing a wall while standing on a temporary platform when the accident happened.

Part of the wall collapsed and he was hit by a concrete lintel and sustained injuries that were initially thought to be fatal. His life support machine was turned off but against all expectations he carried on breathing.

Prosecutor Simon Jackson QC has told jurors that Mr Dudi has been left with severe disabilities.

Pola, of Springcliffe Street, Bradford has denied that he was in charge of the site at the time of the accident and has pleaded not guilty to breaches of the Health and Safety Act and breaching a prohibition notice.

The trial continues.