AN oil industry expert died after his vehicle overturned on a sand dune in the Libyan desert.

An inquest in Farnworth heard how Michael Shaw had been working as a project manager for a contractor building a site for petrochemicals giant Repsol at Merzuk in Libya.

On April 14 he was driving a colleague and a man inspecting the work going on at the site.

Photographs were needed of the construction work so 60-year-old Mr Shaw decided to drive off the road to the top of a sand dune to get a better view.

But when his 4x4 vehicle reached the top of the dune, 300 metres from the site, the vehicle slid and rolled down the other side.

Mr Shaw's passengers were injured but managed to climb out of the vehicle, but Mr Shaw suffered a brain haemorrhage and chest injuries and died at the scene.

The project manager had been due to fly home to Newmarket, Suffolk, the day after but instead, on April 19, he was brought back to Walkden where his daughter lives, for his funeral.

A jury of four men and four women returned a verdict of accidental death.