A company has been accused of serious health and safety failures following an inquest into the death of an employee who fell 12 ft from the top of a skip.

Lewellyn Cheriman, 59, of Farm End, Grove, Wantage, lost his footing while he was standing on the edge of the skip at Excel Timbalex Ltd, of Basil Hill Road, Didcot, on July 20, last year.

He was emptying waste plastic by hand into the skip from another container which had been raised by fork-lift truck. He suffered head and chest injuries and died at the Radcliffe Infirmary a week later

An inquest at Oxford heard on Thursday this was the usual way for the now-defunct company, which manufactured plastic products, to dispose of waste plastic.

Staff were not issued with special footwear or training, and there was no guard rail to hold on to.

Vincent Penny, of Hagbourne Road, Didcot, who worked alongside Mr Cheriman, said the edge of the skip being slippery was a "hazard of the job".

The Health and Safety Executive said the firm could not be prosecuted as it no longer existed. A jury returned a verdict Mr Cheriman died as a result of an accident.

Speaking after the inquest, Mr Cheriman's brother-in-law Gerald Stonehouse, from Middlesex, criticised the health and safety practices of the company. He said: "It was appallingly lacking in any standard of health and safety. It's our view that this is a case of negligence."