FAMILY members of the man killed at a landfill site in Ringwood Forest on Wednesday afternoon were expected to travel to Hampshire on Thursday, October 11, to identify the body.

The dead man, a tyre fitter who comes from Wales, was trapped by a hydraulic crane arm on his lorry as he was preparing to change the tyres on another vehicle.

The accident happened at about 3.30pm in the Veolia landfill site at the worked-out Blue Haze sand and gravel quarry, excavated until the beginning of this year by Tarmac.

Ambulance and fire crews from Dorset and Hampshire were unable to save the man's life.

A Veolia Environmental Services' spokesperson said: "We very much regret to report that at approximately 15.30 on Wednesday a fatal incident occurred at our Blue Haze landfill site in Hampshire.

"A tyre fitter working for an outside contractor was attending the site with a Hi-Ab rig, which he was preparing to use to change tyres on a tipper truck.

"Tragically it appears that while setting up he was trapped by his own equipment in his own vehicle.

"The emergency services have attended the site and the death has been confirmed. A full investigation is being carried out with the relevant authorities."

Hampshire Constabulary is conducting a joint investigation with the Health and Safety Executive into the cause of the tragedy.

A police spokesman said the dead man had not been formally identified. "The family have to come from Wales to do that," he said.

The landfill site, which takes waste from across Hampshire, was operational on Thursday but the area where the incident occurred was taped off.