Didcot collapse: Construction firm pays tribute to collapse victim

The scene at Didcot Power Station, Oxfordshire after Tuesday's collaspe Credit: PA Photos

The managing director of the demolition firm working at Didcot Power Station has praised the worker killed when it collapsed earlier this week.

Mark Coleman, MD of Coleman and Company, issued the statement on the company's website and paid tribute to Mick Collings, the father-of-two who was killed in Tuesday's accident.

He said: "Mick Collings was our colleague and friend, and we are devastated to hear this news today.

"Above all he was a husband and dad, and our hearts go out to his wife Lynn, his daughters Zoe and Stacey and his extended family. We are deeply sorry for their loss."

Concerns have been raised about the firm's suitability for the job. Credit: PA Photos

"This has been a terrible incident which has shocked everyone at the company, but our over-riding priority remains supporting the families affected. We will continue to keep in close touch with Mick’s family to do what we can to help."

Three people remain missing and Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service chief fire officer David Etheridge told a press conference there had been "no signs of life detected" in the wreckage.

Earlier this week, Vendel Segesdy, who worked at the plant from 1969 to 2013 as a steel worker, told ITV News' Rupert Evelyn that he suspected the station wasn’t a “solid structure” when looking at it from nearby last week.

“I thought, ‘If they’ve not taken a lot of the heavy plant out of there it’s just going to fall in on itself’,” he said.

Coleman and Co are well respected within the demolition industry. Didcot was the Birmingham-based demolition specialists' first full power station contract and up until Tuesday's accident, the destruction is thought to have been controlled.

In a corporate video posted on YouTube last December, made to promote the firm's work on the power station, project director, Kieran Conaty revealed the company had never worked on a project on this scale.

He said: “The client was made aware that this was our first power station – we’d never done anything like this.”

Flowers left at the scene at Didcot Power Station in tribute to Mick Collings who died in the collapse. Credit: PA Photos

The family of Mr Collings, 53 today paid tribute to him, describing him as a man with a "huge enthusiasm for life".

In a statement issued through Thames Valley Police, they said he was a "much loved husband, father, granddad, son brother and friend".

"He had a huge enthusiasm for life and will be remembered for his kind and friendly nature. He loved everyone and everyone loved him," the family said.

"Thank you to everyone who has sent their condolences and to Coleman & Company and the emergency services for their support.

"We ask that our privacy is respected at this terrible time."

A post-mortem that was carried out on Mr Collings has revealed he died as a result of multiple injuries.

The exact cause of the collapse is still unknown and Thames Valley Police and the Health and Safety Executive are working to identify how the accident happened.