A BUS company has been hit with an £80,000 fine after a driver described as a "total family man" fell into a pit and died.

John Ruby, who had been driving buses since 1967, broke his leg after falling 1.5m to the bottom of the pit at the New Cross bus garage in New Cross Road, New Cross.

Mr Ruby, from Lewisham, had just finished a shift on July 2, 2004.

He was walking backwards in the restricted area, checking he had parked his "bendy bus" properly, when he fell.

On March 16, the Old Bailey heard Mr Ruby died three weeks later from deep vein thrombosis caused by the fracture.

Mr Ruby, 63, was described as a "total family man" with a "heart as big as the world".

He had been planning his retirement with his wife Gillian before he died.

An investigation was launched by the Health and Safety Executive and found risk assessments regarding pits at the depot had been ignored.

Pits were routinely left open and uncovered.

The London Central Bus Company admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act at the City of London Magistrates' Court earlier this year.

Prosecutor Adam Dutton-Budworth said: "There were precautions which were reasonably practical and if they were implemented and enforced would have prevented this accident and John Ruby's death."

Jim Ageros, mitigating, told the court the company had an impeccable safety record in the past and had pleaded guilty to the charge at the earliest opportunity.

He said since the accident the company had taken steps to make sure a similar accident could never happen again.

Staff are not allowed to leave the building by taking a short cut through the prohibited pit area.

Judge Richard Hone fined the company £80,000.

It was also ordered to pay £21,600 costs.

The judge said: "No penalty can adequately reflect the value of Mr Ruby's life.

"He was a really good man, a local employee and someone of great skill."