A HOMELESS man asleep in a wheelie bin was crushed to death in the back of a dustcart, it has emerged.

A HOMELESS man asleep in a wheelie bin was crushed to death in the back of a dustcart, it has emerged.

Raymond Pickering, 54, was asleep in a bin on the morning of May 15 when it was emptied into a dustcart in Nottingham and he was crushed.

His body was found hours later at Biffa's waste-management site in Colwick, Nottingham Coroner's Court heard today.

The binmen who were doing their rounds that morning had not checked inside the bin, as was standard practice for health and safety reasons.

A verdict of accidental death was recorded.