Parkway contractor killed in Newbury town centre

Work on £150 million Park Way halted after construction worker is killed in Newbury this morning (Wednesday)

A MAN driving a forklift truck at the Parkway construction site in Newbury died instantly this morning (Wednesday) after the vehicle toppled over.

Shoppers along Northbrook Street looked on in horror after a crashing bang accompanied the fall of the vehicle at the site at 9.10am.

As the forklift toppled over it spread concrete and wood onto the road opposite the McDonalds restaurant in the northern end of the town where work was commencing on the multi-million pound new shopping development.

Ngozi Fakeye, spokeswoman for the South Central Ambulance Service, has confirmed that the ambulance service was called to an incident just after 9am, but that the male patient was dead on arrival.

A spokeswoman for Thames Valley Police, Marianne Stockton, said the driver of the forklift involved in the incident was pronounced dead at the scene, and that the Health and Safety Executive has been informed.

She said the investigation was ongoing, and it was not known how long it would proceed for.

Emergency services were quickly on the scene following the incident, with fire crews helping police clear up the rubble.

The high street is currently closed to traffic.

A spokesperson for Parkway, Christina Gillings, said: “We can confirm that there has been an accident at Parkway this morning which has sadly resulted in the fatality of one of our site team.

"Our sincere condolences are with the family at this difficult time and we are assisting the authorities in every way we can."

Update: 12pm - Construction has been halted on