A MAN died after he fell through a barn roof while working at a farm.

Police said the 46-year-old had fallen through a skylight into the barn at Great Park Farm near Besselsleigh, south-west of Oxford, on Thursday afternoon.

He was flown by air ambulance to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital and died later.

Last night he had not been formally identified, as investigators said it could take months to determine the cause of the accident.

Great Park Farm is a large, fenced off site, including farm and office buildings. Workers in high visibilty jackets were at the scene of the incident yesterday.

The farm is just off the A420, about a mile away from Besselsleigh.

Residents the Oxford Mail spoke to told of their shock at the workman’s death.

Jill Parker, of Redlands in Rowleigh Lane, Besselsleigh, said: “It is a bit of a shock to the community here.

“A fatal accident is not something that has ever happened there before, but people just won’t know.

“We are a bit cut off here from the A420.”

Kevin Empson works in maintenance at nearby private school Cotley Old School.

Mr Empson said: “This is the first we have heard about it.

“I was working yesterday but nobody came into the school and mentioned anything.

“It is awful, we are not that close, but we are not that far away and we still don’t like to hear it.”

The man’s next of kin have been informed, said police, who did not release information of the death until yesterday.

Thames Valley Police and the Health and Safety Executive have launched a joint investigation following the death.

Paul Butler, a spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive, said: “This is a fatality investigation, which tends to take quite a long time.

“It will take months rather than weeks.

“There is an investigation under way but the police are leading it.”

Det Insp Steve Raffield of Thames Valley Police said: “This was a tragic incident and our thoughts are very much with the man’s family at this time.

“We will now conduct a full and thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident alongside the Health and Safety Executive.”