Man in his 40s died after fall last Monday

Work at Laing O’Rourke’s tech and life sciences scheme at Oxford North remains suspended a week after a worker died on the site.

Thames Valley Police said a man in his 40s had died last Monday (4 December) at the project near Wolvercote after falling from height.

Despite emergency services attending the site, the worker died of his injuries at the scene, the police added in a statement.

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The first phase of the Oxford North scheme includes 4,000 sq m of co-working space called the Red Hall

In an update this afternoon, O’Rourke said: “The HSE handed the site back to our team last week. Its investigation continues and we will continue to cooperate with it fully.

“Work on site remains suspended and will do so until we determine an appropriate time to return to normal operations.”

It added: “Our thoughts remain with the family of our colleague who died, and we are doing all we can to support his family and our own project team at this tragic time.”

O’Rourke is working on phase 1a of the £700m scheme which includes the Red Hall, a co-working space for start-ups and so-called because of the colour of its roof, and the first two laboratory buildings. Phase 2 includes three more laboratory buildings.

Client on the scheme is Oxford North Ventures, the joint venture company of Thomas White Oxford, the development company of St John’s College, Canadian investor Cadillac Fairview and developer Stanhope.

Earlier this year, a 26-year-old man died in hospital after being injured at Laing O’Rourke’s job to build a new stadium for Premier League football club Everton.

Laing O’Rourke last month reported a pre-tax loss of £288m, its largest since it was formed in 2001. Its performance was affected by problem jobs in the UK and the cost of a dispute in Australia.