A fairground worker was fatally crushed under a trailer during preparations for a funfair at Brands Hatch, an inquest has heard.

A resumed inquest before a jury at the Shepway Centre in Maidstone, heard how Chatham-born Carl Madgwick worked for Shaw’s Leisure and the company had been setting up for an event at the racetrack near Longfield on July 1 last year.

After erecting the Twister Ride, a trailer used to transport the ride had been attached to company owner Asa Shaw’s white Range Rover Sport, so that it could be cleared from the fairground area to an accommodation area 300 metres away.

Mr Madgwick, 47, who lived in Southborough, had been sat on the trailer and stood on the tow bar as the Range Rover drove off, but tragically fell as the vehicle turned and went under the wheels of the trailer.

Mr Shaw explained to the inquest how the team had just broken for lunch at the time of the accident and were also heading back to the caravan site as he had agreed to drive them to McDonald's in a pick-up truck parked there.

"I knew in a gut feeling something was wrong..."

But he said he had told them to walk to the caravan area as he didn’t want people in dirty clothes in his Range Rover.

He insisted he had no idea that Carl and another worker Billy Baker had climbed on the trailer – also called a ‘dolly’ – to ride back there.

It was only when he reached a slight turn and incline that he realised something was wrong, he explained.

“At that point where this terrible thing happened I heard a scream or a shout.

"I knew it was bad. I knew in a gut feeling something was wrong. It wasn’t a normal scream. It was quite a bad scream. I stopped the vehicle and glanced in my left hand mirror – I could see that Carl was underneath the trailer.

“I instantly thought he must have been on there, and had fallen off and gone underneath. I could see he was in a bad state.”

He added: “I was in shock. I was very upset. I could see he was in a bad way as soon as I looked at him. I’m not saying I knew he was going to die but I knew he was in a mess.”

At that point, emergency services were called and Mr Shaw said he had also called his mother.

“I was very distressed,” he added. “I went numb. At that point I had a feeling like I never had before.”

Mr Madgwick’s wife questioned Asa Shaw directly and said members of the team had previously ridden across the area on the tea-cup rides while they were being transported, something that Mr Shaw denied seeing and doubted had happened.

She also asked “what are you going to do now to put in place for health and safety to make sure this doesn’t happen again to another family?” to which Mr Shaw said he would make sure nobody was riding on trailers or axles.

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But he added: “I believe we’re a very safe company. This was a one-off and caused through something I could not foresee, which was that Carl decided to jump on there. He made a mistake.”

He explained he didn’t know if he had looked in his mirrors and Mrs Madgwick replied: “Well you obviously shouldn’t be on the road then, should you.”

Mr Shaw added: “I just think this was a very unfortunate accident. It’s something you don’t think about. It was a freak, unfortunate accident.”

The inquest also heard evidence from investigating officer DS Steven Randall – who said Mr Shaw had consistently said he was unaware of anyone riding on the trailer – and the Health and Safety Executive’s investigating officer Kevin Golding, who had investigated the site.

Both stated ‘dolly’ trailers were unsafe to ride on, but Mr Golding said he had not found any evidence of unsafe practices on the site.

The medical cause of death was listed as 1a) multiple fractures and soft tissue internal organ injuries as the result of 1b) trauma.

The jury recorded a verdict of misadventure.