A LORRY driver was reversing his wagon into the final space in a works yard when it hit a man who later died, an inquest heard.

Steven Wailey returned to the industrial yard in Lumns Lane, Swinton, and was left with "no choice" but to park his lorry in a "tight space" in the corner.

While performing the parking manoeuvre, his truck hit 63-year-old Danny Adams, who was in the process of detaching his trailer.

On May 9 last year, Mr Wailey had just one unfamiliar space in which to park his vehicle because of the yard's first come, first served policy.

An inquest at Bolton Coroners Court heard from PC Adrian Pye, from Greater Manchester Police's serious collision investigation unit, who talked the jury through pictures he had taken of the site when he attended a few days after the incident.

The court was told that, because of the layout of the yard, Mr Wailey would have been unable to reverse straight into the space.

PC Pye confirmed that articulated vehicles, when reversing, are steered in the opposite direction to the way the trailer turns, meaning the cab and its load form a V shape.

The court heard that, while reversing, Mr Wailey's mirrors would have shown the bushes next to the space on one side, and the side of the trailer on the other, rather than the space behind him.

He said: "There would certainly be some obstruction but I cannot say how much.

"It may be that a small part of Danny was visible in a small part of the mirror or not at all."

PC Pye said the space appeared "tight" to him but that Mr Wailey, an experienced HGV driver, may have regarded it a "piece of cake".

Father-of-three Mr Adams, boss of his own firm, D Adams Haulage Contractors, died in hospital from a cardiac arrest after multiple organ failure two days after the accident.

Born and bred in Tonge Moor but most recently living in Farnworth, Mr Adams had suffered fractures to his ribs and pelvis, a liver laceration and a ruptured bladder.

His partner Angela Adams has told the inquest how she and Danny were "two sides of the same coin".

The inquest continues.