Harrison Ford Star Wars
Harrison Ford was injured while reprising his role as Han Solo in Stars Wars REUTERS/Paul Hackett

A production company has admitted serious health and safety breaches after Hollywood actor Harrison Ford broke his leg while filming the latest Star Wars film in the UK.

Ford, 74, was knocked to the ground and crushed by a hydraulic metal door while on a set of the Millennium Falcon spaceship at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, on June 12, 2014.

The star was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where his wife, Calista Flockhart, joined him in a trauma unit.

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Foodles Production (UK) Ltd, owned by Disney, was accused of failing to protect actors and workers on the set.

The London-based company pleaded guilty to two of four criminal charges at Milton Keynes Magistrates' Court on Tuesday (26 July).

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which brought the prosecution, said the power of the door's drive system was comparable to the weight of a small car, adding that the accident was a "foreseeable incident".

The court heard how Ford could have been killed had an emergency stop not been activated.

Prosecutor Andrew Marshall said the incident happened after Ford, who was reprising his role as Han Solo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, had gone through a door with another actor and hit a button.

He started to walk back through the door, the court heard, believing the set was not live and that it would not close.

But the court was told the door mechanics were remotely operated by another person, and that the star was pinned down as he passed underneath.

A spokesman for HSE said: "Foodles Production (UK) Ltd has accepted it failed to protect actors and staff and HSE welcomes the firm's guilty plea."

Defending, Angus Withington said while Foodles pleaded guilty to the two charges, it would challenge the level of risk involved.

The company will be sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court on 22 August.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens went on to become the fastest film to gross $1bn at the box office, taking just 12 days to reach the milestone. It has since doubled its worldwide takings.

Disney bought Lucasfilm, the company behind the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, from George Lucas in 2012 for $4.05bn.