THE GRIEVING widow of a coal worker who was crushed to death by a 100-ton dumper truck has hit out after a sheriff fined his employers £400,000.

Father-of-six Brian French, 48, was killed alongside Scottish Coal colleague Colin Ferguson, 37, when the huge 17ft Terex truck crashed into them in February last year.

Both men had been parked in a Land Rover at the firm's Pennyvennie site near Dalmellington, Ayrshire, when they were killed after being crushed by the giant dumpster.

A court hearing at Ayr Sheriff Court, Scottish Coal were fined for failing to ensure both men's safety on site.

But last night Brian's widow Lorna, 49, demanded a full public inquiry into the tragedy which claimed her husband.

Lorna, of Kelloholm, Dumfriesshire, said: "I want everything that happened that day to be laid bare in a full public inquiry.

"I still think there are thing we haven't been told the whole story.

"The fine is meaningless. It could have been £500,000 pounds but was brought down by 20 per cent.

"But what does that mean to a company of that size? It could have been millions but wouldn't have brought Brian back.

"It still feels like the accident only happened yesterday. It is almost a year-and-a-half since the tragedy but I don't think the pain will ever go away.

"I hold a massive grudge against Scottish Coal and want something done to stop other families suffering the way we have."

Last week Scottish Coal admitted they had failed to ensure both Mr Ferguson and Mr French were "not exposed to risks to their health and safety".

And at Ayr Sheriff Court yesterday sheriff John Montgomery said the company had failed to learn from previous accidents.

Handing down the fine he said: "It is apparent that despite there being Site Manager's rules for the movement of light vehicles within the site these were not enforced and staff at all levels regularly drove around the site in Land Rovers entering live dig areas.

"Although the dump trucks in question were fitted with mirrors it was known from prior accidents that these trucks had blind spots that persisted.

"Options open to Scottish Coal to remedy this could have included extra cameras on the offside with an internal monitor or radar system to warn of approaching vehicles.

"Further preventative measures would have included fitting the Land Rovers with poles and flags at the rear which could have alerted the dump truck drivers.

"Clearly enforcing their own rules and having two way radios available for all vehicles on site would have been simple and relatively inexpensive ways of preventing this tragedy."

Health and Safety Executive spokesman Norrie Buchanan admitted both men's deaths had been entirely preventable.

He added: "These two deaths arose from the clear failure of Scottish Coal to provide suitable means of communication between different vehicles on site in order to reduce the risk of collisions, as well as a failure to manage vehicles on their site.

"Earth-moving vehicles such as dump trucks or bulldozers have poor visual fields due to their large size.

"It is crucial that additional steps are taken to ensure that the drivers of these dump trucks are aware of other smaller vehicles around them."

A spokesman for Scottish Coal said: "We would like to express again our deepest sympathies for the family and friends of our colleagues Brian French and Colin Ferguson who so tragically lost their lives during the accident at Pennyvennie in February 2007."