A man who died after becoming trapped in a drain during the summer flooding was a victim of the emergency services not having adequate provision for underwater rescue operations, a coroner said yesterday.

Michael Barnett, 28, succumbed to hypothermia four hours after his leg had become stuck in a grate covering a drain. He had entered the culvert to remove debris, but the fast-flowing floodwaters rose above his neck.

Over the past week, an inquest in Hull had heard that police and fire officers struggled heroically — some risking their lives without safety equipment — to keep Mr Barnett above water. But they did not have the tools necessary to free his thigh from the grate, nor was it possible to amputate his leg. Directing a jury to return a verdict of accidental death, Geoffrey Saul, the coroner, said that the evidence indicated that a gap existed nationally “in the provision of rescue services”.

He added: “It has become clear that neither the fire service, the police nor the ambulance service have an underwater rescue capability.” Mr Saul said that he was going to write to the appropriate authority at a national level to report the gap, and that climate change could result in emergency services personnel having to deal with more flooding incidents.

On June 25, Mr Barnett, a shop worker, had become trapped in a piece of park fencing that council contractors had used to replace a grate covering a drain. Returning the verdict, the jury foreman said that Mr Barnett had died “in a selfless act to help others and without thought for his own safety”. The coroner said: “Members of the public and members of the emergency services alike all worked tirelessly in truly appalling weather, soaked to the skin, to try to rescue him.”

After the hearing, the dead man’s father — also called Michael Barnett — said: “The emergency services did all they could. I’ve told them time and time again. I said, ‘Come on lads, get your heads up, you’ve done more than you should do’. Some dived in without any equipment. All I can say is they were a brave bunch of lads”.

Mr Barnett said that he was satisfied with the verdict. But he questioned whether the original grille that had been removed on June 15 should have been put back to replace the temporary fencing used by council contractors. He said that cutbacks in the maintenance of the drainage system had led to increased flooding.

Alan Leaver, Assistant Chief Constable of Humberside, said that officers had “delivered exemplary service in tragic circumstances”.

Commenting upon the coroner’s intention to report a lack of underwater rescue provisions in the emergency services, a spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said that it would investigate any suggestions.

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