THE drowning of a taxi driver whose cab plunged off an unguarded dock led to a £25,000 fine for a port authority yesterday.

Abdul Rashid, 49, might have mistaken the river surface for the wet road after he dropped off a ship's officer in Middlesbrough, said David Rowland, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive.

Mr Rashid, a father of four, of Southwell Square, Middlesbrough, attempted to pull on the handbrake, but his black and yellow Vauxhall Astra somersaulted off the unguarded edge.

He banged his head and drowned as the car sank in the early hours of March 26, 2001, Teesside Crown Court was told.

After the accident, the Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority, whose five kilometres of Teesport waterfront was regularly inspected by the Health and Safety Executive, installed a safety barrier with reflective arrows, said Mark Grenyer, defending.

It led to similar barriers going up at docks nationwide, because until then nobody had realised the danger.

He said it was the first fatality at the dock since the authority took over 33 years ago.

The taxi passenger, the chief officer of The Norqueen, made a statement later that Mr Rashid was driving quite fast. Mr Grenyer said the driver carried on straight ahead instead of retracing his route.

The accident was discovered when Mr Rashid's body was found floating in the dock. Passes are now issued to drivers so security staff can keep track of them.

The port authority pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the safety of non-employees under the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act.

Judge John Walford imposed a £25,000 fine with £4,536 costs. He said he would accept that it was an accident which could not reasonably have been foreseen.

Mr Rashid's family are suing the port authority in the civil courts. None of his family was in court yesterday.

But David Robinson, the authority's managing director, said later: "The death of Mr Rashid was a tragic accident and our thought was with his family.

"Safety in the port is of the utmost importance to us, and our procedures are regularly reviewed to ensure that the highest standards are achieved and maintained."