A CORONER criticised advice given by a police call handler which led to a man dying after he was hit by a car and slumped over.

Bystanders rushed to help Aidan Ridley when he was knocked onto a verge by a Rover 45 while crossing Hook Street in Royal Wootton Bassett around 8.43pm on February 12 2016.

They called 999 and were told not to move the 22-year-old but an inquest ruled that this was bad advice as his head being tucked under his chest blocked his airways.

Assistant coroner Ian Singleton said: “At the time the bystanders were instructed not to turn him over Aidan was alive but not breathing effectively. Failure to move Aidan to open his airway contributed to his death.. Aidan was crossing the road from the hotel to walk to his bus stop. He was wearing dark clothing. His body was thrown onto the grass verge and partially obscured by a metal ‘A’ frame road sign. It was not appropriate for the police call handler to give advice not to move Aidan and this advice had a direct impact upon the action of members of the public at the scene. There was a failure to instruct callers at an earlier stage to rely solely upon the advice of the ambulance service or members of the public with medical training present. There was a failure to intervene and or correct the advice given by the call handler and the guidance and training and supervision of the police call handler was not adequate.”

Mr Ridley died in Southmead Hospital due to an hypoxic brain injury three days after his accident.

A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: “We would like to express our sincere condolences to the family of Aidan Ridley following the conclusion of the inquest into his death. Our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time.

“We were called to a report of a road traffic collision in Manor Farm Road. A vehicle had collided with Mr Ridley as he walked home from work. Sadly, he never recovered from the injuries he sustained. The investigation into the road traffic collision concluded that no action should be taken against the driver of the vehicle involved.

“We referred the incident to the Independent Office for Police Conduct following concerns raised regarding the advice given by our call handler to members of the public at the scene. The IOPC carried out an independent investigation in relation to the incident and found that the conduct of the call handler who dealt with this call did not amount to any criminal offence or any grounds for misconduct. Our call handlers are fully trained in line with the national policy and since this incident we have made improvements to our systems which include more efficient communication with other emergency services partners. Further training will also be incorporated for all new recruits and refresher training for all current employees.”