TWO companies have been fined a total of £130,000 after a man was killed by a 31-tonne concrete beam in Thurrock.

Gary Drinkald was working on a road bridge which was being demolished on the A1306, near Lakeside Shopping Centre, in the early hours of the morning of April 9 2006, when he was crushed.

A concrete beam had been removed from the Stifford Rail Bridge and placed on the back of a low loader lorry, but chains securing it were removed from the crane before it was secured to the low loader and fell on Mr Drinkald, 43, from Aylesbury.

The Health and Safety Executive successfully prosecuted Chelmsford based company Micor Ltd, the main demolition contractor which employed Mr Drinkald, as well as and Crane and Transport Services Ltd of Kent, which was subcontracted to provide staff to supervise the lifting procedure.

Following the hearing at Basildon Crown Court on Friday, HSE Inspector Nicola Surrey said: “A family, including four children have had their lives devastated by this tragic incident. With adequate planning and supervision of how the concrete beam should have been secured on the low loader lorry, this outcome could have been avoided.

“This case is a warning to other employers that there are serious consequences for not protecting their workforce.”

The 2009 inquest into Mr Drinkald’s death heard he died from traumatic asphyxia and multiple injuries, caused by the concrete slab pressing down on him, breaking 17 ribs and causing internal bleeding.

Micor Ltd, of Stock Road, West Hanningfield, pleaded guilty to breaching two sections of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at an earlier hearing at Southend Crown Court in May. They were fined £100,000 at Basildon Crown Court and ordered to pay costs of £20,000.

Crane and Transport Services Ltd, of Hartley, pleaded guilty to breaching a section of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998.

They were fined £30,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,000.