FATHER AND SON, 72 AND 42, DIE AFTER FALLING INTO FARM SLURRY TANK

A father and son have died after falling into an industrial slurry tank at a farm in Cheshire, England, in a devastating accident that has left the local agricultural community mourning.

Alan Ford, 72, and his son Rick Ford, 42, were involved in the incident at a farm on Cann Lane in Aston by Budworth on August 26.

Emergency services were called at around 12:20 p.m. after reports of an industrial incident.

When police, firefighters and ambulance crews arrived, they found the two men inside an industrial tank.

Both were rescued from the tank, but despite the efforts of emergency crews, they were pronounced dead at the scene.

A FAMILY DEEPLY CONNECTED TO AGRICULTURE

The two men were identified by the Royal Cheshire County Show, which paid tribute to them following the tragedy.

Alan had served as chairman and director of the Cheshire Agricultural Society before retiring from those roles in April 2026.

Rick had been a director of the society for several years.

The organization said the Ford family had worked tirelessly for the society over many years and described Alan and Rick as people who would be deeply missed by everyone who knew them.

The family asked for privacy while they dealt with the loss.

INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY

Cheshire Police launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The Health and Safety Executive, the UK’s workplace safety regulator, also sent inspectors to the farm and began working with police.

Authorities have not publicly detailed exactly how the father and son ended up inside the tank.

Slurry tanks are used on farms to store agricultural waste. They can also contain dangerous gases produced as organic material breaks down, making incidents involving enclosed agricultural tanks particularly hazardous.

“VERY SADLY MISSED”

News of Alan and Rick’s deaths prompted an outpouring of tributes from the agricultural community.

The Cheshire Agricultural Society said the Ford family had given years of service to the organization.

For those who knew them, the tragedy was not simply the loss of two members of the farming community — it was the loss of a father and son whose lives had been closely connected to each other and to the agricultural world.

Their deaths remain under investigation as their family, friends and colleagues mourn the pair.