A development company has been fined £13,000 after a workman suffered spinal injuries when he fell from a ladder and landed on a concrete floor.

Self-employed joiner David Joy, 53, broke a bone in his back after falling 2.7 metres inside the disused Old Ukrainian Church hall in Eccleshill, Bradford, earlier this year.

When an officer from the Health and Safety Executive visited the site she described safety standards there as "dreadful".

Proper ladders were not provided, while stairwells inside the four-storey building were unguarded and the site had no toilets or facilities for washing hands or eating.

"The company sought to carry out the work in a manner which incurred as little expense as possible," prosecutor Michael Elliker told the city's magistrates. "The company's conduct displayed a cavalier disregard for the safety and welfare of workers."

Crestaway Ltd, of Adel Mill, Eccup Lane, Leeds, pleaded guilty to three charges under the Health and Safety at Work regulations. They were also ordered to pay £7,000 costs.

Passing sentence, bench chairman Marion Le Pla said: "There was blatant disregard for the safety of any person on the site. Looking at the photographs, the site was totally chaotic."

Mr Elliker said the company had been formed to convert the building into 13 duplex apartments.

On January 5, Mr Joy had to use a combination ladder to descend from the top floor after the access ladder had been removed by other workers.

He straightened out the combination ladder but did not realise the hinge locking mechanism had not clicked into place properly before lowering it through the opening and stepping on it. The ladder folded up under his weight and he fell.

Although in shock, Mr Joy made his way to the ground floor via a window, a single scaffold plank and an access ladder.

He was later diagnosed with a fractured lumbar vertebra and spent five days in hospital, eight weeks in a back brace and was off work for five months. The company failed to report the accident to the HSE.

As well as shortcomings with scaffolding and ladders, the HSE investigation revealed workers on site were not wearing hard hats and some were wearing trainers.

"Corners were cut in the pursuit of profit," said Mr Elliker.

Katherine Southby, mitigating, said the company deeply regretted the accident involving Mr Joy and accepted they had done things wrong.

"This company is before you today after having bitten off more than it could chew," she added, pointing out that the conversion was a major project involving 8,000-9,000 sq ft.

"It was not cavalier profiteering - it was people trying their best but falling short of what was required. Corners were not cut - mistakes were made, failures on their part but not profiteering."

After the accident, considerable steps were taken to improve matters.