A two-day inquest into the death of a man crushed against a garage roof was due to start today.

Contract worker Paul Edwards, 38, from Bartley Green, Birmingham, had been carrying out repairs at the Fish Brothers Peugeot garage, Mannington Roundabout, following a fire in November 2002.

Mr Edwards, who was one of a team of eight, had been working on a cherry picker, which is used to raise people in the air. He is believed to have been operating the machine himself.

Married with two young children, Mr Edwards was staying in Swindon at a guest house while working for the industrial cleaning company at the garage on Great Western Way.

Tara Barker, spokeswoman for the Health and Safety Executive, which investigated the accident, said at the time: "The facts are that he was crushed against the roof while working on a cherry picker.

"For some reason the cherry picker went up but how or why is not known."

Striking firefighters crossed their picket line to attend the incident.

A cherry picker has an arm that extends upwards, attached to a small balcony on which workers stand.

The inquest was starting at 10am at Swindon police station in Fleming Way and was expected to continue tomorrow.