The Swain’s Lane site in the  aftermath the tragedy

A CONSTRUCTION worker died after a fuel tank he believed to be empty exploded, the opening day of an inquest has heard.

Stephen Hampton, 54, was helping to clear a former petrol filling station site in Swain’s Lane on March 16, 2017.

He divided-up a gas tank that had been dug up during the works with a flame torch, called an oxygen-acetylene cutter.

The tank had three sections and one of the compartments still had gas inside, St Pancras Coroner’s Court heard today (Monday).

Detective Sergeant Martin Head told the court: “The flame of the cutter breached the cylinder. It ignited the gas inside. This resulted in a rapid expansion of the gas within the cylinder, a confined space. That expansion caused the panel to be forced off. That panel, disc in shape, connected with Mr Hampton, resulting in significant injuries, mainly to the right side. It also landed on top of him, further compounding his injuries.”

“To give some context, the panel was 1.7 metres – and it is made of steel.”

Mr Hampton died in Royal London hospital in Whitechapel two hours after the explosion, the court heard.

The construction work was part of a development of a former shopping parade in Swain’s Lane that was originally a“parsonage” garden. It had, around the 1950s, been converted into a fuel filling station. Three fuel containers had remained “in situ” despite the filling station being “decommissioned” in  the 1980s, Ds Head said.

The coroner’s court was packed full of lawyers representing companies including land owner Swain’s Lane Ltd, contractors Mead Consulting and sub-contractors Mead Building Construction, Material Movement Ltd and PJ Labour Ltd.

The Met has not pursued any criminal charges against companies but the Health and Safety Executive, which has the power to prosecute, is represented by a barrister at the inquest.

The jury inquest is scheduled to last for a fortnight.