Flood victims Chris and Bram Lane were warned about fumes - inquest told

BRAM and Chris Lane died from breathing in fumes in a flooded cellar – despite being warned of the danger.

The father and son's attempt to pump out floodwater at Tewkesbury Rugby Club during last summer's deluge led to their deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning, a coroner ruled yesterday.

An inquest into their deaths heard that club member Phil Bourton had warned them to take care.

Retired accountant Bram, 64, and his son Chris, a 27-year-old Severn Trent Water worker, died because they took a petrol-driven pump down into the club's cellar, said Gloucestershire coroner Alan Crickmore.

He recorded accidental death verdicts on the pair, saying that their kindly act had led to tragedy.

He warned: "This might be a good opportunity to remind the public that carbon monoxide is an odourless gas which can have lethal consequences."

The inquest at Shire Hall in Gloucester was packed with 50 family members and friends of the pair, who lived in Walton Cardiff.

It heard that Mr Lane was a tireless and committed supporter of the club, served as its treasurer and did many jobs around the clubhouse voluntarily.

Tragedy struck on July 25 last year, five days after the deluge which hit Gloucestershire.

A postmortem showed both men died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Bram had a 64 per cent saturation of it in his blood and Chris had a 72 per cent saturation. Anything over 50 per cent is regarded as lethal.

Club vice-chairman Philip Bourton broke down in tears as he told how, before leaving the clubhouse that night, he warned Bram to be careful of the exhaust fumes from the pump.

Mr Bourton was so overcome with emotion that he was unable to complete his statement and the rest of it was read out by coroner's officer Paul Boak.

Mr Bourton said he cycled to the clubhouse to see the extent of the flooding and met Mr Lane and his son there with others.

He said: "I could smell the exhaust fumes being given off. I said 'Bloody hell, Bram, that stinks. You be careful with them fumes', or something like that.

"I was aware the fumes were there and passed that sort of comment to Bram not in a flippant but a jovial sort of way.

"Bram responded 'We're fine, we've got the big doors open'.

"I'm shocked at what happened and I'm asking myself what I could have done – they were both happy and fine."

Retained firefighter Tim McVicker said he arrived at the club at 8.10am and went down into the cellar, which had 3ft of floodwater in it.

He found the bodies of the two men floating in the water, he added.

His colleague firefighter Peter Carter said: "We found two people. They were both lying on their sides with their faces in the water. My first impression was that they were trying to help each other. They were overcome by fumes."

After the inquest, Bryan Parsons, the club's chairman, said: "This was a tragic accident and we are just hoping that things now move on and the family can get on with their lives."