40-year-old mother crushed to death by automatic garage doors

Social worker and mother-of-one Heidi Chalkley, 40, was tragically crushed to death by automatic garage doors in an underground car park as she left her block.

It is believed she was visiting a friend who lives at the Ruth Bagnall Court in Cambridge.

The friend, who was with her at the time, frantically tried to pull her free with the help of passers-by, but Ms Chalkley died “immediately” after being trapped in the rolling metal shutter.

Cambridgeshire Coroner’s officer Paul Garnell said the woman had pressed the button to operate the garage and she held on to the shutter while it went up, with the intention of dropping down from it. However, her arms were caught by the shutter and she was crushed.

As a result of the accident, the health and safety of the four-storey block is under question.

One block resident claimed the automatic door was constantly breaking down. He said the door was supposed to stop automatically if something got caught up in it.

The police have referred the incident to the Health and Safety Executive.