'Panic' after cleaner was crushed

An inquest has heard how a contract cleaner was crushed to death while using a "cherry picker" in Swindon.

Paul Edwards, 38, from Bartley Green, Birmingham, was working to repair fire damage at the Fish Brothers' garage when the accident happened in 2002.

Witnesses told the inquest jury how panic broke out among the eight-strong team as they tried to help him following the incident.

The inquest in Swindon is expected to last for two days.

The father-of-two was working to repair fire damage at the garage in November 2002.

He was using the platform designed to lift workers when he became pinned between its cage and a steel girder.

'Tyres slashed'

The team working at the garage tried to over-ride the machine's controls from below but could not get Mr Edwards down, the inquest heard.

Workers from the family-run IDM specialist damage cleaning firm in Birmingham unsuccessfully tried to slash the machine's tyres.

Mechanics at the Fish Brothers' garage in Great Western Way also ran in when they heard the commotion and cut a hydraulic hose to try to get the machine to drop.

Under cross-examination, IDM supervisor Mr Paterson said workers often did not use hard-hats or harnesses as instructed, and had been given limited or no training on the cherry pickers.

He said he and others had no idea what to do in an emergency as they normally used a different type of machine.

He and others also said they were told to sign to say they had read a training manual after Mr Edwards' death.

Coroner Nigel Brookes said the incident was made even more tragic because IDM Ltd, part of Merryhill Envirotech, consisted almost entirely of Mr Edwards' friends and family.