A QUARRY foreman was crushed to death by a skip as he attempted to carry out maintenance work, an inquest heard yesterday.

Mark Armitage, 25, had been working at Hulands Quarry, in Bowes, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, in October last year when the accident happened, the hearing was told.

Mr Armitage, from Middleside, Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham, had been working on the coating plant when a door on a hopper above rail-mounted skips began to stick.

The jury at the inquest, at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court, heard how plant fitter Ian Bainbridge was called in to fix the door, which had jammed in the open position.

Mr Bainbridge shouted to Mr Armitage to knock the door shut with a scaffolding pole he was holding, so he could fix the mechanism.

Mr Armitage stood on the rails below the silo to do so, but when the hopper door closed, the skip cart automatically moved up the tracks and hit him.

The married father-of-two died later from massive internal injuries.

In his statement, Mr Bainbridge said: "At no time was there any mention that the moving of the door would move the skip."

Health and Safety Executive inspectors carried out an investigation at the plant and shut it down while improvements were made.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.