Bin man killed as lorry crashes into building

A man has died after a bin lorry crashed into a building in Leominster

A man died and two people were injured when a bin lorry crashed into the front of a building.

The crash happened at the junction of Mill Street, Bridge Street and Broad Street in Leominster, Herefordshire at about 06:40 GMT. The building was empty at the time.

"Three people were in the vehicle at the time of the collision and it has now been confirmed that sadly a man in his 60s, who was a passenger, was pronounced dead at the scene," said Supt Helen Wain, of West Mercia Police.

Herefordshire Council's leader confirmed that the man who died was a worker for its contractor FCC Environment, and extended "heartfelt condolences" to his family, friends and colleagues.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said the driver and a second passenger had been "seriously injured" and were both airlifted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

All three emergency services had had to work together to get the injured people out of the lorry, because of structural issues with the building, the ambulance service said.

A cordon was put in place while the fire service and local authorities worked to make the building safe.

Roads surrounding the site were closed and expected to remain shut for some time.

Police have also asked the public to avoid Mill Street and the surrounding area.

A councillor has asked the public to avoid speculating on the cause of the crash

Herefordshire Council leader Jonathan Lester said: "We are deeply saddened by the death of a council-contracted worker following a road collision in Leominster this morning."

He added: "We also send our thoughts to the two other individuals injured in the incident and wish them a full recovery.

I want to thank all the emergency services, council staff and responders who attended today's incident for their professionalism in extremely difficult circumstances."

Mark Woodall, who represents Leominster South on the council, said he had been left shocked by the "devastating damage".

He said: "We are reassured that the emergency services were deployed in full and are managing the situation. We are yet to hear the official cause of this incident."

He said there was a mini roundabout near the crash site, where there had been many accidents.

But he urged the public to "avoid speculating on the cause and let the emergency services work without distractions".

All three emergency services worked together to get the injured people out of the lorry

Cathy Saunders, whose family had previously lived in the damaged building, said the scene was "very sad" and the property had been "beautiful" before the crash.

"My in-laws lived there for probably about 20 years and my children have stayed there many a time when they were little," she said.

"It's an absolutely beautiful building with a lot of history to it and I think Queen Elizabeth stayed there at one time."