A 49-year-old man died yesterday after he was crushed between a tractor and gritting machinery.

The worker, from the Chester-le-Street area of County Durham, was killed on the site of the Dunlop Tyres plant, in Washington, Wearside, just after 9am.

Production at the factory, which employs nearly 700 people and manufactures more than 11,000 tyres a day, ceased as a mark of respect.

Police and representatives of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited the plant, on the Wear Industrial Estate. They are not treating the incident as suspicious.

A Dunlop spokesman said the company was cooperating with the HSE to determine the cause of the accident.

He said: "The fatality happened outside of the factory buildings and was therefore not related to the manufacturing process.

"However, the plant will cease production until 7am on Thursday morning as a mark of respect for the deceased as well as the families, friends and colleagues affected by this tragedy."

A spokesman for the HSE said it would be calling in a team of specialist engineers to examine equipment.