by Keith Hunt

A construction boss has gone on trial accused of the manslaughter of a worker who drowned when his dumper truck plunged into a lake.

Mark Wilkin (below, right), 45, was trapped in the truck at Buckland Lake Reserve in Salt Lane, Cliffe, in December 2007.

Edward Day’s company E J Construction employed Mr Wilkin to work on redeveloping the quarry.

Richard Matthews, prosecuting, told Maidstone Crown Court it consisted of 52 acres, 50 acres of which were under water.

The prosecutor said the project involved moving hundreds of tonnes of earth around the site. A 20-tonne excavator and two nine-tonne dumper trucks were used.

Mr Matthews said the work Mr Wilkin was required to do was dangerous and represented a real hazard.

Mr Matthews said a health and safety inspector found the site had nothing which could properly be described as protection to reduce the risk of vehicles being driven into the water.

Two fire appliances arrived but there was little they could do. A police diver went in to retrieve the body and found Mr Wilkin’s left leg trapped in the truck.

Day, of Longfield Road, Longfield, denies manslaughter.

The trial continues.