A 40-year-old man has died after being crushed by a bale of hay on a farm near Market Drayton. The Health and Safety executive is investigating.

The man, who has not been named, is understood to have been crushed by a two-tonne bale of hay and died from his injuries.

A spokeswoman for Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service said that there had been an industrial accident on a farm in the Lordsley Lane area of Ashley, yesterday afternoon.

She said: “The call was received at 5.33pm. Crews from Ashley, Newcastle, Longton and one from across the border in Shropshire attended.

“One male was trapped under a two tonne bale of hay. He was deceased,” she added.

“The incident was closed at 8.25pm. It was classified as an industrial accident.

“Because it was a fatality the Health and Safety Executive are involved.”

A spokeswoman from the Health and Safety Executive said today: “We were informed of the incident and an inspector went out this morning. We are investigating the matter.”

Peter Bate, spokesman for Staffordshire Police, said the man who had died was 40 and lived at the farm.

He said: “The incident is not being treated as suspicious. Staffordshire Police did attended last night as a matter of course in a sudden death. We were called out at 5.40pm.”

A spokesman for the Staffordshire Ambulance Service said they had attended the incident, but unfortunately the man was dead at the scene.

Mick Howe, from Market Drayton fire station, confirmed that they had sent a crew to the scene of the accident but were not needed once they got there.