MACHINES at a paper mill fell silent this week as a mark of respect for a Heysham man who died after an industrial accident.

On Monday, workers at specialist papermakers, James Cropper, in Burneside, downed tools in memory of 43-year-old colleague, Stephen Grainger, who died in hospital as a result of injuries sustained in an incident on March 2.

In a statement, chairman James Cropper said: "The company extends its deepest condolences to Stephen's wife and family."

Mr Cropper chose to close the mill following news of the engineering craftsman's death on Monday and remain shut until 2pm Tuesday to "allow each employee to reflect quietly upon this tragedy".

Mr Grainger, of Dalesview Crescent, Heysham, was severely scalded with hot water and steam as he attempted to change a seal on a pump in a boiler house while carrying out maintenance work.

The father-of-three was flown by air ambulance to Royal Preston Hospital's burns unit and later transferred to Manchester's Wythenshawe hospital.

Mr Grainger's daughter said the family was too upset to talk about the incident at the moment.

The Health and Safety Executive has launched an inquiry and has so far interviewed witnesses and inspected equipment at the mill.

However, an HSE spokesman could not say when the investigation would be complete.