A VERDICT of accidental death has been recorded on a waste disposal truck driver found buried in a mound of rubbish.

Richard Buckley, aged 45, suffocated after being accidentally pushed by machinery into several feet of waste at White Reclamation Ltd, Eccles, where he worked, a Bolton inquest heard.

He was discovered collapsed in the transfer station by his work colleagues on July 18, 2003, and died later that day in hospital after efforts to resuscitate him failed. Pathologist Dr Mohammed Bashir said that Mr Buckley had died from asphixia, which was consistent with being buried in the waste. The inquest heard that Mr Buckley, of Fitzgerald Close, Prestwich, may have been searching for a lost mobile phone in the rubbish, but no one saw what happened.

Mr Buckley worked at the White Reclamation Centre, as an HGV driver. On the afternoon of his death, he went to collect waste from C3 Imaging Manchester Ltd.

The company later contacted White Reclamation's transport manager Peter Brown to say one of their employees thought their mobile phone had fallen into the rubbish that had been collected, and whether it was possible the waste could be checked. Giving evidence, Mr Brown said the waste could be safely looked through at the end of the day once all the machinery had stopped operating.

After tipping his load, Mr Buckley spoke to crane operator Mr Gary Cocker about the missing phone.

Coroner Jennifer Leeming, who recorded a verdict of accident, said: "No one could say exactly what had happened but it seems likely that one or the other of two shovels had pushed waste into the transfer station and Mr Buckley, obstructed by the waste, had been caught up in that maneouvre.