The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the company after a truck driver was crushed by a metal bale which rolled off the heap.

The driver was delivering scrap to the site on 28 April 2008 and was directed to deliver his load to the metal shredder area of the yard. He left his cab and was opening the rear doors to his trailer when the one and a half ton metal bale on the scrap pile came loose and rolled down 20 feet straight into him.

He had not received any site safety induction and was following instructions given by operatives of the company when he was killed.

The company pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and at Cardiff Crown Court the company were fined £200,000 and ordered to pay £57,500 costs.

A HSE inspector commented upon the case:

"Metal recycling yards can be extremely dangerous places so it's imperative companies have safe working procedures and systems in place that are observed by all staff and contractors.

This tragic incident arose because it was custom for the loading of scrap onto the stockpile even though delivery drivers were in the immediate vicinity of it.

The lorry driver was struck from behind by the metal bale - a crushed motor vehicle - weighing some one and a half tons. Unfortunately, death or serious injury was an inevitable consequence.

The size and nature of the stockpile, combined with the method used to feed it meant that it was highly likely that materials would fall."

The lorry driver’s family issued the following statement: "While the financial penalty handed down to the scrap yards owners today offers little comfort to our family we hope that it serves a warning to those companies operating in the waste recycling industry. It should be an absolute priority to ensure death and injury to employees and others on site is avoided.

"We have been torn apart by this death and wish that no other family has to endure the loss of a loved one in the manner we did."