THE former manager of Blackmoor Apple Farm has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison after the deaths of two workers.

Andrew Stocker, 57, was handed the jail term at Winchester Crown Court on Wednesday. It follows the deaths of Scott Cain, 23, and Ashley Clarke, 24, who collapsed and died in an oxygen-deprived apple store on February 18, 2013.

He had pleaded not guilty.

For full story, see this week's Alton Herald.