A Marlow company has been charged alongside brewing giant Carlsberg under health and safety laws after a factory worker died after inhaling ammonia in a deadly leak.

David Chandler, 45, was exposed to the gas while being sent to carry out repairs "like a canary down a mine".

He died almost instantly after inhaling gas at the plant in Northampton on November 9, 2016.

The leak, which also left 22 people hospitalised, happened during work on the compressor - which uses ammonia to chill products used in brewing beer.

Now the brewer and contractors Crowley Carbon UK Ltd have been charged.

Carlsberg Supply Company UK Ltd will face charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Crowley Carbon UK Ltd, of Marlow, Buckinghamshire will face charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

An inquest previously concluded the tragedy was preventable, after hearing gas had escaped from a valve in the compressor unit before exploding in his face in a "great blue cloud of smoke".

Mr Chandler, of Bridgnorth, Shrops., was married and had two daughters, who were aged one and five at the time.

Karl Hurst, representing David's family, told the hearing: "Somehow that valve became open.

"And somehow the valve beneath it allowed ammonia to escape from it."

He compared the engineers working on the compressor to "a canary down the mine".

Carlsberg bosses and Crowley Carbon UK have been ordered to appear at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on March 6.