A Huddersfield man was killed after he was struck by a branch in a freak tree-felling accident.
The man, who has not been named, is believed to work for a company called Yorkshire Tree Care, who are based in Thurstonland.
The victim was working on a contract in High Hoyland, near Barnsley, and the incident happened on Tuesday afternoon.
It is believed he was working with close friend Charlie Batten, who runs the Down To Earth Tree Management company, of Holmfirth.
The pair regularly worked on large jobs together. A third man was also working at the scene.
A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive confirmed they had started an investigation into the death of the man.
The spokesman said: “We were informed of an accident in High Hoyland on Tuesday afternoon which resulted in a fatality and we have launched an investigation.
“Our investigation is run separately to any on behalf of the Coroner and our remit is to determine whether or not there was any element of fault in the work practices which could have caused the fatality.”
The Executive does have the power to prosecute firms or individuals if any fault is found.
