A wheelchair-bound pensioner suffered a fatal head injury when he fell down steps in the cellar at a West Felton care home, a court has heard.

Unsuccessful attempts were made to resuscitate Michael Ibbetson after was found at the foot of the brick built flight of stairs at The Court Nursing and Residential Home three years ago.

The 83-year-old was found to have fractured his skull in the incident, a jury at Shrewsbury Crown Court was told.

Akari Care Ltd, the company which ran the care home, denies two charges of failing to ensure the safety of both its residents and employees.

It is alleged that the door to the cellar did not always lock properly.

James Puzey, prosecuting for the Health & Safety Executive, said the steep stairs to the cellar posed an obvious risk of a fall.

He said the pensioner, a former quarry worker, had been at the home in Threadneedle Street, for two years and his wife Dorothy was already a resident.

Mr Ibbetson had his right leg amputated below the knee but could get around in his wheelchair. His room was on the first floor opposite the lift and his wife's room was on the ground floor. The lift on the ground floor was next to the cellar door.

Mr Puzey said Mr Ibbetson was forgetful and prone to wondering, often going into other residents rooms. He was diabetic and was on a large range of medication.

The jury was told the incident happened on the evening of February 15, 2015, when Mr Ibbetson was due to return to his room to have his dressing changed and was seen heading towards the lift. At around 7pm staff realised he was not in his room and there was a search of the building and grounds to find him.

Mr Puzey said a nurse decided to check the cellar and entered a code on a keypad to open the door.

"She saw Mr Ibbetson at the foot of the stairs with the wheelchair on top of him," he said.

The jury was told the cellar was used daily by staff for access to a chest freezer, a maintenance workshop and for storing cleaning materials. The stairs were the original from when the house was built in the 19th century and were steep and the door opened inwards.

A cook had gone into the cellar in the morning but said the door had closed and locked behind her.

"The cellar door had a keypad. The keypad combination wasn't known to the residents," said Mr Puzey.

"The door was fitted with a self-closing mechanism, but that was the theory. The only reasonable explanation is the door was not securely locked when Mr Ibbetson came to it," he said.

The court heard that a HSE investigator later noted the cellar door did not always shut properly when someone let it go from a short distance away.

Following the accident changes were made by Akari Care which at the time had 35 residential homes across the country with 2,000 employees.

A new door and Yale lock were fitted and the door was hung so it opened outwards rather than inwards. The freezer was removed from the cellar and sign was displayed warning that the door should be locked at all times.

The trial continues.