Crane Collapse Death

A worker has died at a marina in Buckinghamshire in an accident involving a falling crane.

The huge hoist was in the process of being dismantled at a Grand Union Canal boatyard when it collapsed on the 62-year-old, pinning him under the wreckage.

Colleagues reportedly attempted to rescue Donald Preston from the wreckage while they waited for an air ambulance and two land ambulances to arrive.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said that despite paramedics' efforts to revive Mr Preston, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Workers at Willowbridge Marina in Bletchley, near Milton Keynes, were dismantling the crane - used to move boats to and from the water - when the accident occurred.

Police said that Mr Preston was not an employee of the marina but had been working at the site. No-one else is thought to have been injured in the accident.

The marina has been cordoned off while police investigate the cause of the collapse. The Health and Safety Executive is looking into the incident.

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David Urpeth from law firm Irwin Mitchell said: "This was a shocking and tragic industrial accident. Injury or death arising from falls or falling object remain at an alarmingly high level.

"Employers need to ensure that work undertaken is properly assessed and that the risks from falls or falling objects are controlled.

"I act for many workers who have been injured or killed in work accidents involving falls or falling objects."