A MILLOM farmer and 'much-loved' dad of three was killed when a half-tonne bag of seed he was attempting to load into a machine fell on top of him, an inquest has heard.

Robert 'Bob' Pitts, 52, died on May 3, 2024 in a field at Stockbridge Farm which he owned and ran with his parents Terry and Angela.

A statement submitted to the court by his 'beloved wife' Helen said that Mr Pitts had no ailments other than a diagnosis of asthma, a fact borne out by a GP report from Seascale Health Centre, which said that he was rarely seen at the surgery.

Mr Pitts' father submitted a statement outlining the events on the day of his son’s tragic death.

He said they had both been working on the farm but in different fields so could not see each other due to the distance between them.

READ MORE: Coroner slams Trust for 'missed opportunities' in tragic death of 18-year-old

At around 7.30pm, his father went to the house for some food, and asked where his son was, but nobody had seen him.

He wrote: "This was not a concern at this time as when Bob had a job to sort, he would work until all hours until it was completed."

After a short while, as it was getting dark, he went out to the field where his son was working, and found him on a seed drill machine under a bag of seed.

Mr Pitts was unresponsive and so his family called emergency services at around 9.30pm.

A police officer arrived and could find no signs of breathing and no pulse from Mr Pitts.

Paramedics arrived and pronounced Mr Pitts deceased at 10.47pm.

READ MORE: 'Room for improvement' in hospital care of elderly woman who died of sepsis

A Health and Safety Executive report concluded that Mr Pitts was using an excavator, which it states is 'primarily' used for moving earth, but can be used for lifting, to load 500-kilogramme bags of seed into the seed drill.

While he was using the excavator to lift one of the bags, the machine had not made contact with the strap-handles of the bag as it should but round the cord that was tying the bags together.

It said it was likely that the bag was in the air 'for a short while' but had then fallen onto Mr Pitts.

A toxicology report showed nothing of significance and a post-mortem report concluded that Mr Pitts' cause of death was compression asphyxia.

Assistant Coroner for Cumbria Robert Cohen accepted the cause of death offered and concluded that Mr Pitts' death was accidental.

Mr Pitts was born in Eskdale and worked on farms throughout his life. He studied at Newton Rigg Agricultural College as a young man.

Mr Cohen called him a 'farmer through and through' and 'clearly a much-loved member of the family'.