Man crushed in lorry horror

Apr 4 2008 by Rebecca Edwards, Chester Chronicle

Man crushed in lorry horror

A DELIVERY driver was crushed to death when his lorry toppled on top of him.

Ian Thorpe, 47, was unloading scrap metal to Cottage Farm, Dunham-on-the-Hill at 4.17pm on Monday afternoon when his 17-tonne flat-back wagon tipped over.

Nobody else was at the Hob Lane farm and it is believed the motorway repair supervisor was lifting the metal over a gate using a HIAB lorry mounted crane.

Neighbours heard the crash and tried to find farm machinery to lift the wagon off Mr Thorpe but realised he had died on impact.

Farm owners Tom and Dorothy Ithel returned home later to find police and paramedics had closed the road and were trying to establish what had happened.

Mrs Ithel said: “I came home from Sainsbury’s and all I could see was blue flashing lights. I thought the house must be burning down.”

Mr Ithel had known Mr Thorpe for more than 15 years, having worked with him on motorway repair teams.

He said: “He was a well-liked man, a big, strong man and he lived for Liverpool FC. It would be awful if it happened to anyone, but as we knew him it is worse.”

The family are now planning to plant bulbs at the scene and will attend Mr Thorpe’s funeral, expected to be next week.

He lived in Palacefields Runcorn and worked for A ONE Integrated Highway Services in Warrington.

This week friends at Mr Thorpe’s local pub The Tricorn in Runcorn draped a 60ft-high banner on the roof saying RIP Scarb, his nickname.

Work colleagues, who called him Scouse, left flowers and a Liverpool FC scarf at the farm.

A statement from his family said: “Ian was a much-loved father to Lauren, 18, and Becky, 14. He was well-liked and respected in the local community and ran the Tricorn pub football team for more than 20 years.

“He will be sadly missed by his family and friends.”

A joint police and Health and Safety Executive investigation is ongoing into his death, which is classed as a workplace accident.