Investigation into how warehouse worker became trapped under hundreds of blocks of cheese is drawing to a close

It has been two years since the incident at Edwards Transport, in Hinstock, near Market Drayton, where racking inside the building fell, trapping Tomasz Wiszniewski.

Mr Wiszniewski spent nine hours buried in his fork lift truck under about four metres of 20kg blocks of cheese.

After a lengthy investigation, Shropshire Council is now deciding whether to take any further action. Karen Collier, Shropshire Council’s regulatory services operations manager, said: “The investigation is concluding and the findings will now be considered to determine any further action.

“The purpose of such an investigation is to find out what happened in an incident, and why, and to take enforcement action where appropriate, in accordance with the council’s Better Regulation and Enforcement Policy. Investigations can be a lengthy process, and this has been a particularly complex case requiring a thorough and technical investigation, including the significant amount of time that was spent initially on the safe removal of the food from the warehouse.”

Emergency services, including 13 crews from Shropshire Fire and Rescue, were called to the haulage firm at 9.41am on May 6, 2016.

Relieved family members and colleagues cheered as the warehouse worker walked out unscathed after many hours trapped. Mr Wiszniewski was taken to hospital with minor injuries. It is believed he was saved by his fork lift truck.

The fire service said the collapse started with racking inside the 60 metre by 20 metre structure. It is thought this set off a domino-like chain reaction and sent the shelves crashing to the ground.

Although the building itself remained standing, the collapse left the walls of the structure bowing and fire crews had to cut their way into the warehouse to free the trapped worker.Edwards Transport had been asked to comment but declined.