A man repairing flood defences on a beach in West Sussex has died after his bulldozer ran over him.

Michael Streeter, 40, from Brighton may have omitted to put the handbrake on properly when he left his bulldozer - and became trapped beneath the vehicle when it rolled forward as he was climbing off.

The Daily Mail reports that Mr Streeter was able to telephone the emergency services using his mobile phone, but suffered serious abdominal injuries in the accident. Because of the approaching tide, ambulance crews were forced to move him from beneath the bulldozer and he died shortly afterwards.

The accident happened at around 7am on Friday (20/11/09) morning at Selsey Beach in West Sussex.

A spokesman for the South East Coast Ambulance Service said that Mr Streeter was ‘quite lucid’ while they were talking to him on the telephone – but they believe that as a result of his injuries, he may have suffered a cardiac arrest.

'The tide was coming in and the fire crew had to act quite quickly to get him out of harm's way. He was taken over to the ambulance but died en route to hospital,’ said the spokesman.

Mr Streeter was working as a contractor for the Environment Agency. He and a colleague were engaged in routine shingle maintenance on the beach when the accident happened.

Sussex Police said that they would be investigating Mr Streeter’s death – and the Health and Safety Executive would also be advised of the accident.

A post-mortem is due to be carried out on Mr Streeter’s body and the West Sussex Coroner is to be informed. An inquest will be opened and adjourned at a later date.

Work at the beach has been in progress since September – the beach is considered a flood risk because of strong winds and high waves.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said:

'There is not a concrete flood defence wall there and we have been doing work on a shingle defence. The only way you can reinforce it is by using a bulldozer to push up the shingle.’

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