A FARMER, pilot and former parish councillor died from head injuries when he fell from a petrol tanker that was delivering fuel to his airfield in Rayne.
David McGregor, 75, of Rayne Hall Farm, Shalford Road, Rayne, was checking the level of the batch of fuel when he had the fall on May 9 last year.
Tanker driver, Andrew Linley, was the other side of the HGV making preparations to transfer the diesel to Mr McGregor's bowser storage tank when he realised what had happened.
Mr Linley performed CPR as two employees of the farm, including ex-special constable and trained first aider, Melvin Taylor-Patterson, arrived on the scene.
Doctors and paramedics rushed to the airfield and tried to resuscitate Mr McGregor.
He was taken by air ambulance to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, but he was later pronounced dead.
A postmortem examination was conducted at Broomfield Hospital and concluded that Mr McGregor died from cerebral lacerations and contusions and that there were no alcohol or drugs in his system.
An inquest held at County Hall in Chelmsford on Tuesday (April 29) heard how Mr McGregor was a flying enthusiast and had passed his amateur pilot licence, often flying small planes out of Rayne Hall Farm, that he owned with his wife.
The two-hour hearing heard from the two witnesses who were at the farm on the day of Mr McGregor's death, as well as Glyn Davies, a Health and Safety Executive inspector.
He arrived at the airfield later that afternoon to assess the situation and found that Mr McGregor probably fell from the back of the tanker as he was climbing down the ladder and hit his head on the concrete below.
As it was a small delivery made with an old tanker, it was commonplace for customers to climb onto the tanker to check that the amount of fuel they were receiving was correct.
Glyn Davies of the Health and Safety Executive told the court how Mr McGregor's shoes were worn on the soles and that footwear should ideally be rubber-soled when working at a considerable height.
"These factors did not appear to be causative to Mr McGregor's fall and we have issued further training and advice to the driver of the tanker as he was new to the position," he added.
The court also heard how Mr McGregor was in good spirits that morning and that he was joking with the driver Mr Linley.
"He was clearly a very busy and interesting gentleman and a much-liked man, even by people who had only known him a few minutes," said coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray.
As this incident involved health and safety issues, it had to be conducted in the presence of a jury, who were directed by the coroner to record a verdict of accidental death.
