THE jury at the inquest into the death of Tara Whelan supported all the safety recommendations suggested by the police.

They were told that at the time of the accident that led to her death there were 59,446 low wires across the country to be dealt with, 12,000 of those were overhead wires.

These would be reported to the company and a notice warning engineers would be put on the pole itself but they were not specifically banned from climbing them.

The necessary repairs would not be made until other work was scheduled in the area unless the problem was considered urgent, in that the wires were particularly low.

The inquest heard that there have been other similar incidents involving low wires, including the death of a cyclist in London in 1991, but that the incident involving Miss Whelan was the only one where a BT employee had died.

The recommendations made by the police and accepted by the jury included:

Any low hanging cable should be treated as an urgent matter for repair.

When a wire is reported as being low it should be made clear whether it is an overhead wire or something in a less dangerous position.

If a BT pole tester considers a stay is necessary for a certain pole, a 'D' notice warning engineers not to climb it should be fixed to it until the work is done.

Cables should take the shortest route possible across a road to minimise droop.

All the low cables with work still outstanding should be looked at and prioritised so the ones considered more dangerous are done first.