A WORKMAN died after suffering devastating injuries when he fell 30ft through the roof of a York warehouse.

An inquest heard this afternoon that Simon Pickering, 20, of Market Place, Malton, died hours after falling while removing metal roof sheets at the former B & Q Warehouse in Foss Islands Road in May last year.

Opening the inquiry, the York coroner, Donald Coverdale, said Mr Pickering had suffered a "devastating" head injury when he fell through a fragile roof light on to the concrete floor.

A jury of four men and six women heard post-mortem evidence which revealed that Mr Pickering suffered a fractured skull and wrist in the fall.

He was taken to York District Hospital and transferred to Leeds General Infirmary, where he died from his injuries and bronchial pneumonia.

Mr Coverdale told the jury that the old B & Q store had been closed for some time before new owners surveyed it.

He said: "It was apparent that some work was required - particularly to the roof, where a number of metal sheets had deteriorated.

"Along the length of the roof were plastic lights which I believe were extremely fragile."

Mr Coverdale said the owners of the building appointed Totty Building Services Ltd as the principal contractors for work on the building.

They appointed another firm of contractors, Yorkshire Sheeting and Insulation Services, to work on the replacement of roof tiles.

A further company, BLT Erection Services Ltd, was appointed to install netting to catch any workers who may have fallen while replacing the metal sheets.

While the work was ongoing, Mr Coverdale said vandals had entered the property and damaged some of the net-installing equipment.

"This delayed significantly the completion of the work," he said.

But he added that this did not delay the start of work to replace the metal sheets, with workmen being told to avoid the areas which did not have the protection of netting.

Mr Coverdale said Mr Pickering's accident happened as he was seen manhandling a metal sheet across the roof.

He said: "Unfortunately, Mr Pickering stepped on to one of the transparent roof lights and fell through it.

"Unfortunately, the netting had not extended as far as the roof light he had been working on and there was nothing to break his fall. He fell to the concrete floor below and sustained a very serious head injury."

The inquest continues.

Updated: 15:47 Tuesday, October 16, 2001