Work to stop in sympathy for accident victim

11:13am Thursday 4th September 2008

The company running Witney's Marriotts Close development is to stop work on the day of the funeral for a man who lost his life in an accident.

Simons Construction Ltd announced the shutdown as a "mark of respect" for 28-year-old Altin Balla who died after falling from a cherry picker at the town centre site on Friday.

The accident is still being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive.

A date for the funeral has not yet been set.

Mr Balla, married with two young children, lived in a village outside Aberystwyth, west Wales, and was working for a sub contractor, Safety Net Services.

Antony Murphy, director for Simons, said: "We'll close the site on the day of the funeral both as a mark of respect and to allow friends and team mates to attend."

The company's site manager, Simon Armstrong, has also placed a note at the entrance to the £50m redevelopment site in response to the flowers and messages of sympathy left by the public.

It reads: "The project team has been moved by the people of Witney over the many expressions of sympathy that have been received during this difficult period.

"We would like to assure them that all cards will be collected and passed on to the family."

Meanwhile, the Construction Safety Campaign, has announced it will be holding a minute's silence outside the site on Tuesday at noon.

Tony O'Brien, secretary of the pressure group, said it held similar commemorations at other sites where construction industry workers had died.