The borough's workers have the second most workplace accidents in the country, according to newly released figures.

There were 207 workplace injuries in Sutton in the 2011/2012 financial year - equivalent to 1,076 injuries per 1,000 employees and more than double the national average of 445 accidents per 1,000 employees.

The figures, released by not-for-profit campaign group the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), put Sutton behind only North Warwickshire in the workplace injury top ten.

APIL has released the statistics to back up its campaign to get the House of Lords to reject a bill to reform the way workers claim compensation.

Karl Tonks, president of APIL, said: "In Sutton more people suffer a workplace injury per head of the population than in most parts of Great Britain. This number could increase if Government proposals go ahead.

"The change would mean that, if an employer breaches health and safety regulations and a worker is injured, the burden of proving what went wrong will fall to the worker.     

"This gives bosses who have been negligent the upper hand, as they are the ones who control the workplace, and the work equipment and who hold all the information about what systems they have in place.

"Policymakers need to recognise that health and safety regulation is not some sort of burden for business but a necessary and proportionate way to ensure that people who turn up to do  an honest day’s work do not go home injured, or worse."