28-year-old Leharna Bull had to have the middle finger of her right hand amputated as a result of the incident at the Gosport-based printing firm on 19 August 2013.

Ashford Colour Press was prosecuted on 22 May 2014 after a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation identified what it described as clear failings with the guarding on the machine she was operating.

Fareham Magistrates’ Court heard that Bull was attempting to clean the milling blades on the large binding machine and had removed a fixed guard to access the parts.

A fellow worker simultaneously changed a milling bag where paper dust is collected and the machine was restarted while Bull was still working with the fixed guards open. Unable to react in time, she got her fingers caught in the moving blades.

The court was told that the machine should not have been allowed to operate while Bull had access to the moving parts.

HSE inspector Alec Ryan said that it was vital that suitable protection measures are implemented for all maintenance work and that the incident could have been easily prevented if the work been better planned and assessed.

The firm was fined a total of £13,000 and ordered to pay £1,278 in costs after pleading guilty to single breaches of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Ashford Colour Press was unavailable for comment at the time of writing.