Student's carbon monoxide death Angus cottage was avoidable

Tom Hill died after he was found unconscious in a bathroom at the cottage

The death of a student from carbon monoxide poisoning at a holiday cottage in Angus could have been prevented, a fatal accident inquiry has concluded.

Tom Hill, 18, collapsed and died 11 days after the holiday home operator was told about a previous tenant becoming unwell.

The inquiry said reasonable precautions could have been taken by the firm that could have avoided Mr Hill's death.

These included an annual inspection of the cottage's gas safety system.

Mr Hill was on holiday at the remote cottage with his partner Charlotte Beard and her family in 2015.

An investigation found that cracks in a bathroom heater led to it producing carbon monoxide at dangerous levels.

Burghill Farms was previously fined £120,000 after admitting health and safety breaches at Glenmark Cottage, near Tarfside.

Retired teacher Piers Le Cheminant, who sub-let the cottage to guests, was also fined £2,000 after a court heard carbon monoxide could have killed visitors over a period of nearly eight years.

Sheriff Paul Brown, who oversaw the fatal accident inquiry, said Mr Hill was "clearly an admirable and talented young man" and that his death had a devastating effect on his family and his then-partner Charlotte Beard.

The inquiry heard that rooms at Glenmark Cottage had insufficient ventilation

The sheriff said the firm and Mr Le Cheminant could have removed the heater from the bathroom and all mobile gas cabinet heaters there.

He said Scott Murray, a gas engineer, could have made the landlords and tenant aware that he was not qualified to carry out gas work on domestic premises or on mobile gas cabinet heaters.

The sheriff also said written gas safety advice and guidance could have been made available to guests at the cottage on what to do in the event of the carbon monoxide alarm being activated.

He added: "The carbon monoxide alarm sounded three times and a total of eight holidaymakers heard it.

"Each moment represented a step in the chain when Mr Hill's death might have been averted."