Crisps blamed for choking death

A 35-year-old man choked to death while eating crisps in a van on the A12 in Essex, an inquest has heard.

Iain Ward, of Ilford, a map reader for a Chinese food wholesaler, was a passenger in the delivery van when the incident happened at Marks Tey, Essex.

The inquest at Chelmsford heard that an ambulance was called when Mr Ward began choking in the late afternoon on 18 July 2007.

Coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Mrs Beasley-Murray said: "It was the most tragic of accidents. It was an absolutely one-off occasion."