AN accident on a railway line led to the death of a man whose family was wiped out in the Lockerbie air disaster.

Steven Flannigan, 26, of Heywood, near Westbury, died after being hit by a train only 300 yards from his house.

The inquest in Bath heard Mr Flannigan drank 12 to 14 pints of lager before falling and slipping into a deep sleep on the railway line on August 18.

There was no evidence to suggest Mr Flannigan was depressed or suicidal. A verdict of accidental death was recorded.

Just days before, Mr Flannigan went back to Scotland for his son, Luke's, third birthday.

Friends and family were devastated by the death of a man whose life was blighted by tragedy.

Mr Flannigan was 14 when his mother Kathleen, father Tom, and sister Joanne died in the 1988 Lockerbie air disaster.

Mr Flannigan was next door mending his sister's bike when debris from the jet crashed on to the family home.

His brother David, 18 at the time, also survived but died five years later in Thailand.

Mr Flannigan moved to Wiltshire in 1996 to join friend and fellow pilot John Boyce.

Mr Boyce, and Mr Flannigan lived in Heywood. After moving to Wiltshire he became a popular regular in many pubs including The Royal Oak in Hawkeridge, where he was drinking on the night of the accident.

Landlord Tony Elderkin said: "He was a popular man."

Mr Flannigan died in the RUH in Bath on his 26th birthday, three days after the accident.