The 48-year-old victim fell six metres and fractured his pelvis in four places after scaffolding built on behalf of David Knowles collapsed at a house in Nottingham, on 20 October 2009.

A safety investigation found the scaffolding had not been built by a competent scaffolder, was not erected to a standard configuration and had not been tied correctly.

Knowles was prosecuted for failing to ensure that people not in his employment were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.

After the hearing HSE inspector Mark Molyneux said: “Construction workers’ lives depend on scaffolds.

“Scaffold businesses must ensure their workers are trained and competent and that scaffolds meet the requirements and are tied correctly.

“If Mr Knowles had ensured the scaffolding had been properly planned and erected and tied by a competent person, this incident would never have happened and a man would not have suffered a painful injury as a result.”

Knowles, of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, pleaded guilty to safety breaches and was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £3,944 costs.