A MINER who died in the biggest gas blast in a generation would have survived if he had been following strict mine safety rules, an inquest has ruled.

John Anderson, known as Richie, was working a night shift at Boulby Potash Mine in east Cleveland on June 16 last year when a pocket of high-pressure gas caused part of the mine wall to cave in at high speed, covering him in a large amount of rubble.

The 56-year-old, from Easington, near Boulby, died of asphyxiation, an inquest at Teesside Coroners Court heard.

Read more: Family pays tribute to John Anderson - killed in incident at Boulby potash mine

The jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure, rather than accidental death, after coroner Claire Bailey said: "It is unlikely he would have been killed when the outburst occurred had he been standing 20 metres away."

The inquest had earlier heard that the mine had strict safety rules which determined that no-one should stand within 20 metres of the rock face while it was being drilled.

The district of the mine where the blast occurred, a mile underneath the North Sea, had seen at least 25 smaller gas outbursts in the mine in the two or three months before the incident, the jury was told.

However, following strict safety procedures meant that drilling could continue using a special protocol used in high risk areas to keep workers safe.

Mr Anderson, who had worked at the mine for more than three decades, was just 15 to 16 metres away from the wall of rock when it blew out, Health and Safety Executive officials said.

Read more: Boulby gas-blast miner killed in one of the worst incidents geologist had ever seen

The HSE investigators also said that miners were all well aware of the 20 metre rule.

Despite this, he was described by colleagues as a highly experienced, well-thought of miner, and it was out of character that he would ignore safety protocol.

His family, present throughout the three-day inquest, said afterwards: "He was a dedicated, reliable and honest family man who gave 35 years of his life to Boulby Potash mine.

"He has been and will continue to be greatly missed.

"The past 11 months have been extremely difficult for all parties involved and now is the time to move forward.

"We have struggled to come to terms with the nature of his death, but we are now able to move forward and hope that no other family would ever have to go through what we have experienced."

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A spokesman for Cleveland Potash Limited, which operates the mine, said: "Everyone involved with the mine was deeply shocked by this tragic incident.

"Richie was a well-respected and long-standing colleague and our thoughts remain with his family and friends.

"Safety is always our first priority and we have worked closely with the Health and Safety Executive’s Mines Inspectorate in the investigation into the incident which, as was explained to the inquest, concluded that it was ‘not foreseeable.’ "