THE family of a pensioner crushed by several buses after falling through roadwork barriers said safety measures around the site were not good enough.

Fred Carter, 74, of Vicarage Road, Oxford, was found dead in February at the junction of Speedwell Street and St Aldates in Oxford, where work was being carried out on the road.

Witnesses yesterday told an inquest at Oxford Coroners’ Court they saw two buses drive over Mr Carter’s head as he lay on the ground.

Between 30 and 40 vehicles passed father-of-three Mr Carter, but the hearing could not determine how many drove over him.

Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict of accidental death and said there was no indication of a problem with the roadworks.

But after the hearing, Mr Carter’s son Andrew, 56, said he believed Oxfordshire County Council was at fault for not installing safe roadwork barriers.

He said: “The bus drivers knew they were cutting the corner and a ramp was even put by the kerb to make it easier for the drivers’ wheels to cut the corner.

“Because of the tightness of the corner extra precautions should have been put in place to make it safe for pedestrians.

“It took the death of my father to have the extra barriers put in. This is a health and safety issue.”

After Mr Carter’s death, the three-foot high plastic barriers were moved back and replaced with secured higher metal fences, his son told the inquest.

A statement by taxi driver Andrew Lacey, which was read to the inquest, described driving behind an Oxford Bus Company bus and seeing a “sack” lying half on the road and half on the pavement.

He added: “I remember thinking: ‘that’s not a sack it’s a body and the bus is going to run over the head’.

“There was nothing I could do and its back wheel went over where the head should be.”

Chef Paddy Gervers described finding Mr Carter on the ground then watching a National Express coach driving over his head.

He said: “I looked at his face and there was a large pool of blood coming from it. As the bus drove off a man said ‘he’s dead’.”

Pc Terry Anderson, a collision investigator, said studies showed three-quarters of buses which turned the corner had to mount the kerb because it was too tight.

Mr Carter had been drinking in the hours before his death at The Crown, in High Street, and pathologist Dr Fegan Earle said he was the equivalent of almost four times the legal limit to drive when he died.

None of the bus companies were asked to provide evidence, but an Oxford Bus Company representative attended the hearing.

Passing his verdict, Mr Gardiner added Mr Carter either had fallen through the barriers or tried to remove them.

A county council spokesman said: “This was a tragic accident.

“Neither the police or the coroner has given any indication that there was any problem with council roadworks as regards this accident.

“Had there been a problem, they would have been duty bound to highlight it.”