THE grieving family of a taxi driver who died after driving his car into a dock claimed yesterday that "fundamental safety failures" were to blame for the accident.

A jury at Teesside's Coroner's Court recorded a verdict of accidental death after hearing how 49-year-old Abdul Rashid drove off the edge of the quay at Tees Port in Grangetown, Middlesbrough.

He had dropped off a midnight fare close to the water's edge, but then took a wrong turning and plunged to his death, on March 26 last year.

A post-mortem examination revealed that the father-of-four, from Southwell Square, Grove Hill, Middlesbrough, suffered massive head injuries which killed him instantly. His body was found floating in the water the next day.

PC John Morton, from Cleveland Police's crash investigation unit, said poor lighting meant Mr Rashid would have been driving in a "black void". "All you have effectively is darkness," he said.

"Very quickly he would be confronted with what would probably be an apparent straight road."

Kenneth Smith, operations manager for the docks division of Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority, said stricter safety measures had been installed since Mr Rashid's death, including bright orange concrete blocks at the water's edge, to stop vehicles, and a system to ensure taxis were only on site for a few minutes.

After the verdict, Khalid Sadiq, solicitor for Mr Rashid's family, said they believed his death would not have happened if there had been better safety measures.

"The Rashid family have been left devastated by the tragic loss of a devoted and loving husband and father," he said.

"This was an accident which could, and should, have been avoided if the port authority had adopted basic safety procedures."

Harbour master Jerry Drewitt said everyone at the port had been deeply saddened by Mr Rashid's death.