An inquest into the death of a quarry worker who died from serious head injuries has returned a verdict of accidental death.

Robert Bickley, 41, of Dingley Dell, Comfort Road, Mylor Bridge, was working as a plant fitter for Aram Resources at Carnsew Quarry, near Mabe, when he died on July 8, 2004.

At the time it was believed that Mr Bickley was caught in the drive belt of the main crushing machine while repairing a swing shovel. He suffered serious head injuries and died at the scene.

Mr Bickley's friend and colleague, Colin Richards, told the inquest how he had been operating the rock crusher at the time of the accident because the usual man was away.

But Mr Richards said he had been fully trained on how to use the equipment by Mr Bickley when he first started working at the quarry.

Mr Richards described how the day of the incident had been normal until after lunch when he saw Mr Bickley driving an all-terrain fork lift truck with a large oil drum on it.

He saw Mr Bickley disappear from his view as he got closer to the primary rock crusher that he was operating. Then a few moments later Mr Richards heard a strange noise.

Mr Richards said: "I heard a noise that sounded like a stick being dragged down a piece of metal mesh. I immediately hit the stop button to shut down the machine. I leaned forward and looked down below and there was a small gap where I could see a high visibility jacket on the ground and I knew it was Bob's.

"I called the manager on the radio and then rushed down to see what had happened. I could see Bob lying on his side next to the fork lift and the fuel pipes were gushing with diesel.

"I put my hand under his shoulder and rolled him towards me. I could see he had head injuries and there was a lot of blood around his head and on the ground. His eyes were open but he was not moving. I could not bear to look."

Mr Richards described how red diesel was gushing out of fuel pipes around Mr Bickley and how he ran to get some drums to try and contain it.

He said: "I was not aware of what anyone else was doing at this point but I saw someone place their jacket over Bob's body. Shortly after that the paramedics arrived, they tried to find a pulse but there was nothing. I was in shock and it did not seem real."

Mr Richards described Mr Bickley as "extremely conscientious, safety conscious and a good bloke to work with" and added that safety was his number one concern when working on machinery like the rock crusher.

He also added that Mr Bickley had been working on building an oil store for the quarry and had previously mentioned that he would at some stage be draining off the diesel from the crusher which had been changed to an electric power supply the previous year.

Mr Richards said: "The only reason I can think of as to why Bob had that drum on the forklift and was heading over to the crusher was that he intended to drain off the fuel."

He than speculated that if that was what Mr Bickley was doing, he may have been climbing a ladder on the side of the machine to reach a tap to let the fuel out and if he had fallen against the guard which covered the fly wheel, it may have got caught in the wheel and that may have been how Mr Bickley had been hurt.

The inquest into his death began on Monday at Camborne Magistrates Court with Health and Safety Inspector Simon Edwards giving an overview of the granite quarry and its layout.

Dr Michael Jenkins, consultant pathologist at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, said that during the autopsy of Mr Bickley he had found no evidence of any existing natural disease and that he had died of serious head injuries.

A toxicology report also showed that there was no alcohol or drugs in Mr Bickley's blood at the time of accident.