A MAN who was crushed to death by a tree branch was in the “wrong place at the wrong time”, an inquest heard.

Pensioner Clive Denton was walking in Southampton Common when a 10m long oak tree branch fell from around 9m above him, leaving him with critical chest and head injuries.

And the inquest heard the 1.5tonne branch had decayed internally over a number of years due to a fungal infection and could have fallen at any time.

Grandfather-of-four Mr Denton, 85, of Charles Knott Gardens, was treated at the scene and rushed to Southampton General Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Both Southampton City Council and the Health and Safety Executive have since investigated the area and found it to be safe.

Mike Harris, senior tree officer at the city council, said: “There were no obvious signs of decay but the nature of it was symptomatic of a fungus. It’s very common to have this on the Common and it’s a common in oak trees.”

He added the winter storms earlier that year may have made the branch more vulnerable.

Mr Harris added: “We are talking a number of years for this branch to decay. It may have dropped due to a slight increase in wind on the day but we cannot be sure why it fell at that time.

“It would have taken one-to-two seconds to fall. The gentleman may have heard a loud crack and looked up but he would have had no time to react and avoid a branch of that size.”

The inquest heard Mr Denton, a retired tailor, would regularly walk through the Common and was generally fit and healthy.

He was trapped under the branch for around 30 minutes and found by dog walker Simon Waterson, who quickly called the emergency services.

In a statement Mr Waterson said: “I remember thinking this is serious as the man was lying on the ground with an apparent injury to the head and he was not responsive at all.

“His breathing was very shallow and I could hear him groaning; it was like a death rattle and I knew it was pretty bad. I held his hand until the emergency services arrived.”

Coroner Grahame Short recorded a verdict of accidental death.

He added: “It’s difficult to avoid describing this as being someone in the wrong place at the wrong time but that seems to be the case here.”

Police also confirmed they investigated the scene and were bringing no action against the city council for negligence.