A HARWOOD man who died when his car spun out of control as he rushed to work was terrified of being late, his mother told a Bolton inquest.

Timothy Robert Scotland Webb, aged 20, suffered head injuries in the crash in Stapleton Avenue, Bolton near to its junction with Victoria Road, last September.

Mr Webb's mother Susan told Coroner Martin Coppel that her son had been a "very happy boy" when he started working at Horwich Castings on Chorley New Road as an apprentice pattern maker.

But she said he grew to hate the job when his immediate foreman was changed. Mrs Webb claimed his new foreman made her son's life a misery.

She said her son was put under "undue pressure" and said he had been subjected to "kicking and bullying" in the workplace.

Mrs Webb told the inquest that on occasions when she had taken her son to work, he had sat in the car chewing his fingernails for fear of being late.

And she said that her son had been taken off the sick pay scheme to teach him a lesson.

Timothy had been involved in a previous car accident, Mrs Webb said. But she claimed Horwich Castings had offered her son no help or support.

On the day of the crash, Timothy left his home in Springwater Close shortly before 6.45am and was expected in work by 7.15am.

Mrs Webb told the inquest that her son's journey time may have been increased by roadworks on Thicketford Road and Moss Bank Way.

At about 6.50am he lost control of his Vauxhall Nova on a right hand bend on Stapleton Avenue. The car spun round and hit a roadside tree.

A vital witness to the accident failed to attend the inquest at Friends Meeting House in Bolton yesterday at which more than a dozen of Mr Webb's friends and family were present.

Mr Coppel adjourned the hearing until the witness is contacted.

Noel McNabb, in charge of personnel at Horwich Castings said: "We are a very responsible company. No bullying takes place on these premises.

"I am not aware of the circumstances leading to Mr Webb's death while driving to work."

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