A company is to be prosecuted over the death of 30-year-old recycling centre worker Ben Sewell more than two years ago.

Dittisham Recyc­ling Centre, where Mr Sewell worked, has been accused of a single charge under section 2.1 of the Health and Safety at Work Act. The company is set to appear before Torbay magistrates on January 21 next year accused that it 'as far as reasonably practicable failed to ensure the health and safety at work of its employees, including Benjamin Sewell in particular, and the control of risk to health and safety associated with the unrestrained operation and use of mobile plant and equipment, including a Benford 6000 forward-tipping dumper.'

Mr Sewell, who lived with his parents in Seymour Drive, Dart­mouth, died in Sept­ember 2012 while at work at the recycling centre run by Dave Briton.

A jury at a day-long inquest at Torquay in May this year returned a verdict that the 30-year-old's death was an accident.

But the inquest was told that Mr Sewell, who died after being thrown from a dumper truck he was driving, had never passed a driving test and had never been formally trained to drive the dumper truck at the recycling centre where he had worked for almost two years.

The jury was told Mr Sewell would not have been thrown from the vehicle he was driving if he had been wearing a seat belt.

No one witnessed the accident in which Mr Sewell somehow fell or was thrown from the seat of the dumper truck and suffered chest injuries and died.

When the truck – which ended up on its side some 20 yards further down the track from where Mr Sewell was discovered – was examined, the lap strap seat belt was still tucked away beneath the seat, the inquest jury was told.

A health and safety expert gave evidence that lap straps on other vehicles on the recycling centre run by Mr Briton were 'not well used' and one vehicle did not even have one fitted, despite warnings about the use of seat belts in Health and Safety Executive guidance and information sheets.

He said there were no training records for the site and that Mr Sewell's training for driving the plant equipment had consisted of 'verbal instruction' by his fellow workers.