Tributes to man who died after falling in hole left exposed during Bradford roadworks

Friends of a father-of-two whose body was found in a hole in the road dug during roadworks have called for an investigation into his death.

Former nurse Andrew Barker, 56, is believed to have died after falling in the trench on Highgate Road in Bradford on Monday morning.

It is thought barriers protecting the site, where Northern Gas Networks is carrying out work, were blown over during strong winds.

Richard Elliott, who knew Mr Barker from the age of three, paid tribute to him as the "life and soul around anyone, everyone and everywhere".

"He was highly intelligent, professional, charismatic, loving, lucky for me, my best friend. I will miss him very much," he said.

The Health and Safety Executive has confirmed it is making enquiries following the incident and Mr Elliott has called for further investigation.

"I really hope the people who could have prevented this tragedy are held to account if mistakes have been made," he said.

"He died near his home at Highgate Road, aged 56 with his whole life in front of him. RIP. My sincere condolences to all his many friends and family."

Mr Elliott, an author, said Mr Barker was "born and bred in Bradford" and had recently retired from his work as a nurse in the NHS.

He added: "He has two wonderful daughters. One has graduated as a nurse herself, the other graduated at Manchester [University].

"You meet very few people in your life who mean so much to you! Andy was this person to me, a funnier person you could not meet."

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Jer Lane Cricket Club has also paid tribute to former committee member Mr Barker.

A spokesperson said: "We are devastated to hear of Andy's passing in such tragic circumstances.

"Andy had a great dry sense of humour and was always willing to do what he could to support the club which was demonstrated by his support to the committee and by taking on the role as the clubs league umpire in our hour of need.

"We are indebted to him for many hours of dedication as well as lots of laughs and his passing will be very hard to take for some of our long serving members and players."

The club said it supports a review into his death.

It said: "Having learnt more about the circumstances of his passing, we all hope that there is a full investigation to establish how such a tragedy could happen to a man who had so much life left to live."

Russel Kaye, operations manager for Northern Gas Networks, said: "The safety of members of public and our engineers is our priority and we will continue to support the police if required with their ongoing investigations."

West Yorkshire Police said it was preparing a file for the coroner and that the death was not being treated as suspicious.

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