A COMPANY manager has spoken of his deep regret over the death of a "friend and colleague" who drowned in a vat of paint.

Christopher Shute, 30, worked for Philips Services when he died at Ford's giant Swaythling plant in Southampton in August 2000.

Manager Peter Preston, of Rowen Park, Blackburn, and colleague Paul McKenzie of Hartford, Cheshire, were both fined £5,000 yesterday at Winchester Crown Court while Ford was fined £300,000, after all three admitted offences of failing to ensure the safety of an employee.

Today, Preston, 51, said: "I deeply regret Chris Shute's untimely death. He was a friend as well as a colleague and I feel extremely sorry for his family struggling to cope with this tragedy.

"With hindsight other working practices may have been adopted. However, hindsight is an exact science; working practices are not.

"In our different ways everyone involved in this tragedy will have to cope with it for the rest of our lives.

"But now that court proceedings are over, the cloud under which I have had to live for the last 18 months is lifting and I can start to rebuild my life. I'd like to thank all my family, friends and colleagues for all their unstinting support during this most difficult time. I'd also like to thank Andrew Church-Taylor and the legal team at Farleys for all their hard work."

Christopher died after falling into a tank, used for paint recycling, at the plant which makes Transit vans.

His family is now considering a civil prosecution against Mr Preston, McKenzie and Ford for damages.

His sister Anne Gundry, 35, said: "We want justice for Christopher. It did not go to a full trial so this is the only road we can take. We feel that there are still a lot of unanswered questions."

The court heard how it had been impossible for Mr Shute to escape from the vat of paint because the inside was too slippery for him to grip.

Passing sentence yesterday, Mr Justice McKinnon said Mr Shute's death was 'unnecessary accident' and one which was 'waiting to happen'.

He said it was a bad case of its kind and a significant breach of health and safety regulations.

The judge said that Ford did not supervise and check that the safety management system had been complied with.

But, the judge noted that the company had taken steps to prevent a further tragedy occurring.