Michael Warren

(1) The evidence at the Inquest revealed that Bracknell Forest Borough Council employ Highways Inspectors to carry out driven and walked inspections in order to attempt to identify any potential hazards that might impact adversely on road users.

(2) The Highway Inspectors were expected to identify a range of potential problems including potholes in the road, damaged or obscured signage and potential hazards from trees abutting the highway which were often of considerable height. There was little by way of guidance given to Highways Inspectors who had developed their own system of drive-by investigations conducted at a speed rarely less than thirty miles per hour.

(3) The evidence highlighted the limited nature of training provided to Highway Inspectors in identifying potential hazards from trees. The two Inspectors who conducted a drive-by survey two days before the branch fell and killed Mr Warren and who had noted nothing of concern, had not completed any form of tree training since a two day course some seven years earlier. Another Highway Inspector who gave evidence at the Inquest, had never attended a formal training course with regard to tree hazards.

(4) There is therefore a need for appropriate guidelines to be provided by Bracknell