A SOUTH Shropshire farmer has admitted being in breach of health and safety regulations in relation to the death of a man who was electrocuted almost four years ago.

John Downes pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to avoid the risks during the construction of a barn at his farm near Church Stretton at a recent hearing at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

Father-of-three Bryan Welch, 46, was on top of the structure at Smethcott where cables carrying 11,000 volts of electricity ran close to the roof.

Work on the barn at Red House Farm, Smethcott, had been carried out between May and November, 2013.

Mr Welch, a steel erector, and his relative Simon Bloor, were contracted to work on the premises by JR & MC Downes & Son, which owns the barn.

The hearing was told that Bloor, of Little Harlescott Lane, Shrewsbury, had pleaded guilty to an offence of failing to comply with health and safety regulations at a previous hearing.

The case was adjourned until September when both John Downes and Bloor will be sentenced.

Mr Timothy Green, prosecuting, said it was not in the public interest to pursue similar charges against Downes’ son, Timothy Downes, of The Farm, Longnor, and offered no evidence.

At an inquest in March, 2015, found that Mr Welch, of Cwm Head, Marshbrook, near Church Stretton, died from electrocution and was a case of accidental death.