'Time Team' jouster dies from splinter

A man has died after a wooden splinter entered his eye while filming a jousting re-enactment for Time Team, it emerged today.

Channel 4 confirmed the incident happened at Rockingham Castle in Northamptonshire on September 13.

A spokeswoman said a balsa wood lance splintered when it hit the man's shield. A splinter went through the eye-slit of his helmet and into his eye socket.

The man, who was in his late 40s and has not been named, died a week after the incident in hospital. He was part of a professional re-enactment group.

The spokeswoman said: "We have been shocked and deeply saddened by this tragic accident.

"The professional company of historical enactors has an excellent safety record and took all the appropriate and necessary precautions and it does sadly appear this was a tragic, freak, accident."

The episode, primarily about Edward III's Round Table at Windsor Castle, will be broadcast next year. The particular re-enactment will now not be used and there will be a dedication to the man.

The Health and Safety Executive is investigating.