A JURY has ruled that the death of a man who was found with head injuries by colleagues at his Leominster workplace was accidental.

Anthony Ashton, 58, died on March 27 2015 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, having been found the day before at Arrow Plant and Tool Hire in Leominster.

Colleagues told an inquest at Hereford Town Hall they had been finishing a lunch break when they heard a 'thud' from the storeroom and that when they went to see what had happened they discovered Mr Ashton on the floor with blood coming from his head.

Paramedics attended and he was airlifted to hospital in Birmingham where he died the following day.

The inquest heard Mr Ashton, of Whitestone, Hereford, was a manager at the Leominster branch and had been helping a customer with an enquiry about a small compressor on the afternoon of March 26.

He believed the display item in the shop might have been the only one available and had gone to the back of the building to look for another.

Martin Hughes, company director at Arrow Plant and Tool Hire, said Mr Ashton had been with the firm for nearly two years and ran the shop and hire side of the Leominster branch.

He knew Mr Ashton – who was taking medication for peripheral vascular disease following a diagnosis in 2012 – was not in the best of health and had been ill over Christmas.

Mr Hughes was having lunch with colleagues when they heard a 'thud' and Andrew Home went to see what was going on before calling for his colleagues to help.

Colleagues reported seeing a ladder, used to access a loft area in the storeroom, lying on a cement box near to Mr Ashton.

Mr Hughes said he did not believe Mr Ashton would have attempted to access the loft as it held mostly old papers and tools and was rarely used.

One colleague, Jason Nash, described hearing a ‘bang’ like metal hitting the floor and seeing the ladder on top of Mr Ashton but this was not the account given by other witnesses.

Forensic pathologist Dr Alexandra Kolar recorded the cause of death as head injuries. Medical evidence, the inquest heard, suggested Mr Ashton’s injuries were caused by a fall from greater than standing height.

However, it was not possible to indicate precisely where he fell from.

Catherine Healy, from the environmental health department, also said it was not possible to ascertain exactly what Mr Ashton had been doing in the moments leading up to his death.

She said there did not appear to be any reason for Mr Ashton to go into the storeroom if he was trying to find an item to sell rather than hire.

However, her investigation did find a box for a compressor with a user manual in it in the loft area but it was not known whether he knew it was there or had seen it.

The jury stated Mr Ashton died from a head injury by a fall from greater than standing height and returned a conclusion of accidental death.

Paying tribute to her father, Sarah Jeanes said Mr Ashton was a 'really happy man, even when he was ill'.

"He was just supportive and always looked after me and made sure I was ok. I was a proper daddy's girl really," she said.

He also loved singing, spending time in his garden, his dog Barney, football and was a member of Burghill Valley Golf Club.

Having grown up in Newport, he was also an avid rugby fan.

His partner of 10 years, Jean Singleton, said the couple lived in Spain for five years before returning to Herefordshire on February 14 2013.

She said he loved their holidays together and they were planning to return to Las Vegas.

"He had a great sense of humour and very good at his job," she added.