Energy firm Scottish Power is to appeal the £1.75m fine they were handed after a worker suffered steam burns at Longannet Power Station.

The company was given the penalty earlier this year, after it admitted serious health and safety failings at the Fife plant.

Controller David Roscoe suffered severe scalding injuries after being engulfed by steam which escaped from a defective pipeline valve at the coal-fired power plant in October 2013.

The company had known about the fault for more than four years but nothing was done to repair it, Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard.

Sheriff Charles MacNair fined Scottish Power £1.75m and criticised the company's safety procedures.

The energy company has now lodged an appeal at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh to challenge that figure, however.

It is understood the appeal centres on the application of new English sentencing guidelines in health and safety cases.

Long-serving employee Mr Roscoe, who was 51 at the time, had to undergo major skin graft surgery and was unable to return to work.

Fifteen days before the accident, a contractor saw steam was escaping from the valve. He filled in a work order card for the repair to be done within a month.

On October 12, Mr Roscoe saw steam coming from the valve and when he tried to stop this by turning it slightly he was badly scalded by steam, mainly to his lower body.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) probe into the incident at the now-closed Fife plant found that Scottish Power Generation Limited was aware of the defect but did not take steps to either repair or remove the valve.

The Glasgow-based firm admitted to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Dunfermline Sheriff Court last month.

The sheriff imposed a fine of £2.5m but discounted it to £1.75m because of the early guilty plea.

A Scottish Power spokesperson said: "We fully accept responsibility for the incident and co-operated fully with the HSE investigation, implementing immediate changes to our procedures at Longannet.

"We also apologised unreservedly to Mr Roscoe for the distress caused by this accident, and we provided assistance following the incident.

"We have subsequently appealed against the level of the fine."