A BURY company which came under fire following the death of a young father at work has lost its transport licence.

Benjamin Edge was working at Fletcher Bank Quarry in Shuttleworth when he fell to his death in December 2014.

The owners of SR and RJ Brown, Christopher and James Brown, of Lower Gollinrod Farm, Walmersley, were sentenced to 20 months in prison for failing to ensure Benjamin's safety at work, and then trying to cover up their shortcomings, perverting the course of justice.

Mark Aspin, owner of contractor MA Excavations, was sentenced to 12 months in prison for failing to ensure work was planned safely, and exposing workers to risk, at Fletcher Bank Quarry, in Ramsbottom, where 25-year-old Mr Edge slipped and fell to his death in torrid weather conditions.

SR and RJ Brown has been fined £300,000 having pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter, and MA Excavations was fined £150,000 for exposing workers to risk.

Owners Christopher and James Brown, aged 25 and 32 respectively, as individuals have also admitted separate charges of failing to ensure Mr Edge’s safety.

Benjamin's mum Janet Edge said at the time: “The sentence given to those responsible for Ben’s death and for their abhorrent actions bears nothing compared to the life sentence my family and I began on December 10 2014, nor does it do justice to an irreplaceable life – one that would have made a difference in this world.

“Why Ben was on that roof in the most appalling weather conditions seen for a long time we will never know."

Following a public inquiry in October, the Traffic Commissioner for the North West of England, Simon Evans, made an order to revoke the company's transport licence from 31 January 2018. This means the company will not be able to run commercial vehicles after that date.

In his written decision, Mr Evans concluded: “I find it difficult to envisage a much more serious set of circumstances than those that surround the role of this company in the death of Benjamin Edge. That is, two of its directors (the Brown brothers) committing the company far beyond its capability, acting in a reckless fashion, not keeping fellow directors informed and then seeking to cover up in a most despicable fashion what they had done when things went wrong.

“The operator is expected to put in place safe systems of work whether related to transport or not, to be operated in conjunction with its transport manager, to ensure the safety of staff deployed in the business.

"I am not satisfied taking into account the history of this operator, that I can be assured that the sort of system and process failures that led to the death of Benjamin Edge will not be repeated in the future in the context of transport, particularly with the Brown brothers playing such a prominent role in it.”

SR and RJ Brown refused to comment.