Water firm ignored leak that led to DJ's death (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Water firm ignored leak that led to DJ's death

Joseph Bryan with a photograph of his son TravisDISC jockey Travis Bryan died in a horrific car crash largely because Thames Water failed to repair a water leak, an inquest heard last Friday.

The 32-year-old of Little Down, Chippenham, who regularly organised club nights and played in Swindon as DJ Truss lost control of his girlfriend's Peugeot when it skidded on ice.

Family members heard PC Mark Morrison, who attended the scene on the A346 Swindon to Marlborough Road in November, say that if the leak had been fixed, the tragic accident could have been prevented.

"If the water wasn't there I don't think there would have been a crash," he said. "But it was a combination of things. Although the standing water was a major factor the excessive speed was the pivotal reason."

He said during the hearing that tests revealed the car was travelling at least 80mph before it flipped in the air and ploughed into a tree shortly after 3am.

Thames Water admitted it had known about drainage problems on that stretch of road for five months before the accident, but had failed to take action.

And it was revealed that at least two local residents had phoned the company on numerous occasions, complaining about the 25ft-long stream forming in the road.

But they didn't fix the hydrant or clean out a blocked drainage gully, which meant the water couldn't escape, until hours after the crash.

Bethan Henderson, 50, of Ogbourne St George said in a statement she had phoned Thames Water to report the leak in the summer. She then contacted them again just a few days before the accident to ask why nothing had been done.

Whitefield resident Norman Thomas, 54, also called the water company about the puddle, which extended from the bank to the white line in the middle of the road and at its deepest was 11cm.

On the fateful November night the minus four temperatures caused the puddle to freeze.

Mr Bryan, who was well-respected as one of the area's best R 'n' B, soul and hip hop DJs, kissed his girlfriend, Charlotte Richings, goodbye and left her sleeping at 1.20am at her home in Wetpitts Lane, Ogbourne St Andrew.

He drove her car to Swindon where he handed out flyers to revellers, promoting a club event scheduled for the next night.

He was on his way back when he was killed. In a statement, Miss Richings said her boyfriend was a very safe driver, who would never take risks. He never drunk or took drugs before driving, she said and he used a hands free kit to speak on his mobile phone.

"He would have been full of energy because he would have been handing out flyers," the statement continued.

Wiltshire Coroner David Masters accepted that a combination of the excessive speed, Thames Water's failure to act and a blocked drainage gully, the responsibility of Wiltshire County Council, caused the accident.

Recording a narrative verdict (relating to deaths where there have been system failures) he said: "It was a combination of all of these factors that led to this horrific collision and Travis' loss of life. That leak, had caused on this night water to have collected on the Marlborough bound carriageway of the road. It was a very cold night. That water could not get away because the drainage gully, which would have allowed it to have done so was blocked.

"Other vehicles would have been using this road throughout the night and what those vehicles had done passing through this area quite safely was to throw up water on to the adjoining surface of the road and because of the temperature, ice had formed at the edges of the standing water."

He added: "It's not right to describe what happened here as an accident, so it would not be right to record an accidental death. Misadventure is inappropriate because there are many variable factors which bought it about."

After the inquest spokeswoman for Thames Water, Hilary Bennett said: "The death of Travis Bryan was a tragic accident. We have since carried out our own investigation and reviewed the way in which we deal with leaks during freezing weather. As a result, we have revised our procedures to ensure that repairs are given a more urgent priority."

Mr Masters is to write to Thames Water and Wiltshire County Council in relation to the repair of equipment and emptying of the gullies.