Cyanide gas leak in van kills company boss

A managing director died on Sunday after breathing in cyanide gas as he drove one of his company vehicles.

A managing director died on Sunday after breathing in cyanide gas as he drove one of his company vehicles.

Paul Wellstood, 43, died after a chemical called Cymag, which is used to kill rabbits, leaked in the back of his van.

It is believed Mr Wellstood did not realise he was inhaling the lethal gas.

His body was found by passers-by, slumped in the front seat of his Vauxhall van in a lay-by in an isolated country lane off the A340 near Great Rollright, Oxfordshire.

Police were treating the death of Mr Wellstood, a partner in the Abingdon-based Household Pest Services firm, as a tragic accident. It is not yet known how the chemical began leaking from the container.

A passer-by and two members of the emergency services were treated for suspected cyanide inhalation.