THE father of a window cleaner critically injured in Whitefield after falling from his ladder said he will take "legal advice" after an inquest ruled his son's death was accidental.

Carl Hibbert, of Tempest Street, Deane, fell from his ladder while cleaning the windows of a third-storey flat in Clegg Street, Whitefield, on August 7, 2003.

The 28-year-old father landed face down and suffered a fractured skull, brain damage and internal bleeding. He died of his injuries at Salford's Hope Hospital Bolton Coroner's Court heard.

The inquest jury was told it took 40 minutes, from the first emergency call, to get Mr Hibbert to North Manchester General Hospital, despite the accident happening 50 yards away from Whitefield Ambulance Station.

The call came at a time when the ambulance service was swamped with emergency calls and was struggling to meet demand. It took 18 minutes for an ambulance to arrive but the vehicle did not have a spinal board and a second ambulance arrived four minutes later.

He was then transferred to Salford's Hope Hospital where he died two days later.

Speaking after the inquest his father, Kevan Hibbert, aged 61, said: "I think more could have been done to save him if he had gone straight to Hope Hospital. That's the hard part of it. I am going to be seeking legal advice."

Mr Hibbert said that he and his wife Anne Morrison, aged 55, looked after Carl's four-year-old son Luke at the weekends.

"It's heart-rending when we take Luke to see the headstone. There is a picture of Carl and we tell Luke to say hello to daddy and he kisses his face. He is a great little kid," said Mr Hibbert, of Bradford Road, Bolton.

Dr James Leggate, a specialist neuro-surgeon, said that Mr Hibbert was probably beyond help after he underwent a brain scan.

He added: "In my opinion Carl sadly was beyond recovery by the time they had completed the scan. But we thought he ought to have a chance."

Dr Helen Reid, a specialist neuro-pathologist, said Mr Hibbert's skull was fractured on the right side in the temple, which had gone down into the base of the skull.

Rosemary Leese-Weller, a investigator for the Health and Safety Executive, said that window cleaners should not "over-stretch" and should continually move their ladders.

Coroner Janet Leeming told Mr Kevan Hibbert: "I have been touched, as I am sure we all have, by your obvious love and care for your son. "