A man died after becoming trapped under the waste disposal truck he was driving during a collection from a Watford leisure park.

He was airlifted to hospital with "extremely serious injuries" from the rear of the Woodside Leisure Park shortly after 6.33am on Saturday.

The man who is believed to be from Bedfordshire died in hospital hours later as a result of his injuries. 

An investigation into the cause of accident is on-going but early indications suggest the driver got out of the truck before it rolled back on him. As a result of the incident, the truck caught fire. 

Tony Goodman, operations director of Cawleys, said his driver was on a routine pick-up of chemical waste and recyclable material from the site off the Kingsway North Orbital Road when tragedy struck. 

He said: "It has been a very subdued atmosphere around the place this week. We are all very shocked and saddened by the events.

"It’s not very nice for anyone - particularly for his family and those that knew him best here.

"It’s difficult to speculate but loss of life accidents do sadly happen. It reminds us all of the dangers we face and certainly makes us all think about what we are doing."

Hertfordshire Constabulary said the matter had been passed into the hands of the Hertfordshire Coroner and the Health and Safety Executive had been made aware of the incident.

Watford Borough Council said: "We were very saddened to learn of this incident. We are working closely with the police and doing all we can to assist them with their enquiries."