Clingfoil, a cardboard packaging firm which has never had an accident, is accused of breaking the Work At Height Regulations 2005.

An HSE inspector spotted a worker balanced between a ladder and a forklift truck at a height of about seven feet last year. Since then, the Macclesfield-based firm has retrained staff, bought new safety equipment and accepted that it should be fined.

But it believes the HSE is going to far with the prosecution. The firm is supported by local MP Sir Nicholas Winterton, who labelled the action as "disproportionate".

Mark Kenyon, who owns the firm with his brother Paul, told the Daily Telegraph:

"This is the first time in 24 years in business that we have had any sort of Government involvement in our business and it's to do this to us.

"We started from scratch in our bedroom and we have built this up and it's a success story. The only reward I get is being kicked in the teeth."