LONDON (AFP) - The production company behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens is being prosecuted in Britain over an incident on set which left actor Harrison Ford with a broken leg, health and safety officials said on Thursday.

Ford, 73, was struck by a heavy door at Pinewood Studios west of London on the set for the film's Millennium Falcon spaceship in June 2014 and airlifted to hospital afterwards.

Now Foodles Production UK will appear in court in May to face four charges alleging that it breached health and safety law as Ford reprised his role as Han Solo.

"The charges relate to an incident during filming of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, which left Harrison Ford with serious injuries after he was hit by a heavy hydraulic door," Britain's Health and Safety Executive, the official body responsible for workplace safety, said in a statement.

"By law, employers must take reasonable steps to protect workers - this is as true on a film set as a factory floor," it added.

The hearing will take place at a court near the studios on May 12.

In December, The Force Awakens, the seventh instalment in the Star Wars series, became the fastest movie ever to pass the US$1 billion (S$1.4 billion) mark in global box office sales.