FOUR companies involved in a project to widen the M2 were fined by magistrates following an accident in which a motorist from Meopham was killed.

All the companies pleaded guilty to breaching the health and safety at work act on November 15 2001, when mud was distributed over part of a slip road at Chatham.

Three of the companies, Costain of Maidenhead, Skanska JV Projects of Rickmansworth, and Mowlem were each fined £7,000. Ovenden's Earth Moving Co, from near Canterbury, was fined £16,000.

John Underwood, an inspector for the Health and Safety Executive, which brought the case, told Medway magistrates on Wednesday that as part of the road widening project, a stockpile of earth at the Buckmore Park roundabout needed to be moved half a mile.

Lorries and an excavator were brought in by Ovenden to carry out the work, on November 15 2001. As a result of the operation, mud contaminated the carriageway.

At about midday there was an accident, in which Ian Cheverst of Meopham was killed, and his wife Wendy injured.

He said that Costain, Skanska and Mowlem were part of a consortium known as the Joint Venture, assembled to carry out the road-widening scheme. In general the project was a well-planned and well-executed job. The Joint Venture had a highly developed set of procedures to deal with safety issues.

However on the day of the accident, lorries had backed off of the hard road to be loaded with soil. As they drove off mud from their tyres contaminated the public slip road.

Mr Underwood accepted that it could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt that this contamination caused the accident in which Mr Cheverst was killed. However he thought it could have been a contributing factor.

Counsel for Ovenden, Christopher Russell, said that in 31 years the company had never been involved in a fatal or serious injury accident. All operators were given safety training and were "fully ticketed".

Drivers were briefed that they should keep their vehicles on the hard road and not to reverse onto soil areas. But he accepted that mud on the road, on the day of the accident, was unacceptable, and that mud can be hazardous to road users.

In addition to fining the companies, the chairman of the bench, Peter Hartmann, ordered Costain, Skanska and Mowlem each to pay £910 costs, and Ovenden to pay £2,740 costs. He said he expected Ovenden to carry out a review of the procedures involved when carrying out this kind of work.