A SHOCKED couple were only inches from death when a pallet laden with bathroom sinks crashed to the floor at the York B&Q Warehouse.

Council safety inspectors were today probing the incident at the store in Hull Road.

A friend of the couple said they were looking at tools down an aisle when the drama unfolded.

Without warning, the pallet of sinks fell off the top gantry and crashed 20 feet to the floor next to them.

They were unhurt, and warehouse managers immediately sealed off the aisles until safety inspectors arrived.

"They were a fraction from death," the friend said. "They moved out of instinct a split second before the sinks fell."

The couple were too shocked to talk about the incident, which happened on Wednesday.

Jackie Armitage, City of York Council's acting principal environmental health officer, said: "I visited the store on Wednesday afternoon and again yesterday.

"B&Q acted promptly to isolate the area and steps were taken to re-inspect all high level stock.

"We are satisfied with the in-house procedures in place regarding the safe use of fork-lift trucks and pallets."

A spokeswoman for B&Q said: "We're extremely thankful that no one was hurt. We're working closely with the council to investigate the matter, but a cause has not been established."

Updated: 12:24 Friday, December 20, 2002